COVID-19: IIT Bombay researchers develop portable UV sanitizers to disinfect currency notes

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay students and professors have developed a new portable UV sanitizer to disinfect currency notes and wallets.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has announced that its researchers have come out with a new portable UV sanitizer which will help in disinfecting the currency notes and mobile phones.

This portable UV sanitizer developed by both students and professors of IIT Bombay can be used to disinfect small things like a wallet or currency notes, the report said.

Talking about this, Milind Atrey, Dean (Research and Development), IIT-B, said that these sanitizers cannot be used to disinfect files, papers, etc. However, these can be used to sanitize currency notes that can be detrimental in tackling the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The team will experiment with these Ultra Violet (UV) sanitizers in upcoming days. Till now, they have been doing the trials inside the labs itself, Atrey said.

As per the reports, this sanitizer has been developed using a stainless steel container and aluminum mesh. It can also be used against the spread of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic fever and the Nipah virus.

However, without support from the industry it won't be possible to produce these sanitizers on a large-scale as it requires material from outside, Atrey added. 

The team of students and professors, he said, are working on building a sanitizer to disinfect bigger surfaces and different models.

The total number of positive COVID-19 patients today in the country reached above 1,700. With the rising number of coronavirus cases,  30 states/Union Territories have announced complete lockdown in the entire state/union territory covering 548 districts to prevent the spread. Three states (Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha) have also announced the closure of certain areas.

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