IIT (BHU) comes forward to overcome shortage of sanitizer in fight against COVID-19

 

Varanasi: When people fearing COVID-19 are in panic because of shortage of hand sanitizer, a group of researchers at the Nano-Cellular Medicine and Biophysics Laboratory, School of Biochemical Engineering, IIT (BHU) has come forwards to make people aware how they can prepare sanitizer using products easily available to them.

“In such a situation we thought to prepare the sanitizer in our laboratory and distribute among students and office staff to keep themselves safe. Also, we thought to conduct outreach programme to train people about this simple recipe,” said the group leader and associate professor Dr. Marshal.

According to him, the sanitizer is prepared by mixing 7 part of Ethanol (99% pure) with 3 part of Aloe Vera gel. Then, 1% Sodium Hydroxide (1mM) is added to increase its effectiveness. As few people can have irritation to alcohol smell, rose water or kewra water is also added to it. The cost of 100mL sanitizer is estimated to be Rs. 40.

 

They also want to extend their support to the local administration to overcome the shortage of sanitizer in the market. “We are ready to cooperate with the district administration to fight against the virus,” he said adding that any individual can also contact them to learn the process of sanitizer making free of cost. Anyone can prepare it at home to stay safe from corona virus, he added.

(Pic & video by Sanjay Gupta)