Bengaluru :
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) which has recently been ranked the best university in the country has been buzzing with research innovations for years. In the latest, TOI looks into four innovations that are taking shape at, or, come out recently from the 107-year-old institute.
Solar water purifier & saltwater lamp
An IISc start-up, SuryaGen, has come out with a low-cost solar water purifier and a salt water lamp.
Professor Vasant Natarajan, from the Department of Physics in IISc, whose brainchild SuryaGen is, said: “The solar water purifier can transform water from any source – be it from sea, river, pond, wells, or even water collected from rain – into potable water.”
Impure water is evaporated using solar energy and the vapours are condensed to pure water on a cold surface. This leaves behind bacteria, heavy metals, arsenic, fluoride and other impurities. It can produce 1.5 litres of potable water from 3 litres of impure water.
The saltwater lamp, he said can power 12 LEDs with just half a litre of water and 2 tablespoons of salt. It is suitable for remote areas where grid facility is not available.
Novel sensor to check on heart & lungs
A team of researchers have developed a novel sensor they claim can simultaneously measure both cardiac and respiratory activities. The new device is non invasive, and can be wrapped around a person’s chest. It can help in early clinical diagnosis of many conditions associated with lung and cardiac health. The device is robust, portable, shock-proof, non-electric.
Called the Fibre Bragg Grating Heart Beat Device, it is based on an optical fibre sensor known as a Fibre Bragg Grating. S Asokan, Professor at Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics led the team. They’ve also developed sensors for various healthcare applications including measuring blood pressure, cardiac markers, blood glucose levels.
“The simultaneous detection of cardiac and respiratory activities with a single device helps in decoding the abnormalities connected to lungs and heart dysfunction. One of the most desirable advantages of this instrument is that it can be used for the detection of original heartbeat shape (Nascent Morphology),” says K Chethana, a member of the team.
Bacteria-free water
With deaths due to water related diseases on the rise globally, high efficient water filtration that is affordable is gaining importance. A research team at IISc claims to have a solution. It has designed a membrane which can almost eliminate bacterial contamination from water.
The newly designed membrane is made of polyethylene, which has several advantages like low cost, strength, durability and stability. It also prevents biofouling – accumulation of micro-organisms on the membrane, which blocks the membrane and increases the overall time, cost and energy required for water purification.
To make the three dimensional porous membrane, the scientists mixed the polyethylene oxide (PEO) with polyethylene during the manufacturing process, and later created tiny pores. Biocidal agents are chemical or biological agents used to kill unwanted organisms.
A large portion of the porous membrane is covered with graphene oxide sheets which are efficient and safe biocidal agents with potential to kill bacterial contaminants. Unlike other biocidal agents like silver, graphene sheets are non-leaching and non-depleting and thus are safe for use in filtration procedure.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / Chethan Kumar / April 11th, 2016