Coronavirus outbreak: IIT-BHU students build mask worth Rs 10

In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, Indian Institute Technology (IIT) BHU students have come up with an indigenously developed mask which doesn’t only offer safety from virus but is cost-effective as well. The students from the Sch­ool of Biochemical Engineering, IIT- BHU have used a non-woven biopolymer as the base and then sprayed a hydrophobic material that acts as a fence to many viruses including novel corona and resists hydrophilic creatures as well. This is really good news considering the fact that India has been struggling with the shortage of masks including the N95 type apart from inflated price and entry of fake masks in the market.

According to Dr Pradeep Srivastava, the Head of the School of Biochemical Engineering, the pore size of the masks is 100 nanometres which evade novel corona and all other organisms above the 100 nm size to the enter the mask. The cost of the mask would be around Rs 10. Under his leadership, the research students — Bhishma Narayan Singh, Satyavrat Tripathi, Diwakar Singh and Aditya Anand — developed the masks. According to the researches, the novel corona has a diameter of around 60–140 nm. The IIT BHU asserts its masks block even smaller organisms and dust particles including novel corona.

They have tied-up with a Varanasi-bas­ed manufacturer Paradigm Innomed for large-scale production of this mask to fill the demand and supply gap. This will help people to put Rs10 and get a mask. This innovation is remarkable taking into consideration the fact Covid-19 has more than 3.75 lakh people across the world leading to over 16,300 deaths. In India, more than 562 persons have been diseased and 11 have lost life by Wednesday. The government has locked down the entire country for three weeks to evade the spread of the disease.

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