In a recent tweet, museum director Dr Ian Griffin said the just-imported English-made material was called Vantablack.
It was "made of carbon nanotubes and absorbs 99.965 percent of light".
Dr Griffin, who is a physicist and astronomer, said the museum’s sample had arrived, added "how cool is that!" and posted photographs of the material.
The museum is working collaboratively with the Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonics and Nanotechnology and the centre’s University of Otago-based director, Prof David Hutchinson, on a vigorous outreach programme that includes visits to schools in several parts of the country.
And the unusual material will be used in some of those outreach sessions.
Prof Hutchinson said the microscopic "nanotubes" functioned somewhat like tall trees in a forest that, by standing close together, prevented light falling on the forest floor.
Light was absorbed, rather than reflected back to an observer.
The advent of the Dodd-Walls Centre, the availability of Curious Minds funding through the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, and an active, collaborative role by the museum had contributed to a big surge in science community outreach work, including to schools, he said.
