IIT Guwahati researchers have used the contrasting water wetting behaviour for anti-counterfeiting measures. Unlike the rest of the surface, micropatterns produced through molecular printing are highly hydrophilic in nature and so absorb water and become visible to naked eyes when dipped in water or when moist air is blown. In a new approach to anti-counterfeiting, … Continue reading IIT Guwahati use contrasting water wetting behaviour for anti-counterfeiting
Superhydrophobic
IIT Hyderabad develops waterproofing material using fly ash
Researchers at IIT Hyderabad have developed a cheap waterproofing material by coating fly ash, a waste by-product from coal-based thermal power plants, with stearic acid. The surface can be made to behave like one of the two naturally occurring water-repelling materials — rose petals or lotus leaves — by varying the surface roughness. Researchers at … Continue reading IIT Hyderabad develops waterproofing material using fly ash
IIT Guwahati uses water-repelling cotton for sustained drug release
IIT Guwahati researchers have used extremely water-repelling cotton for sustained drug release lasting as long as 110 days. In moderately water-repelling cotton, the drug is released over 50 days. Two drugs — aspirin and tetracycline — were tested for sustained drug release. The released drug was able to kill pathogenic bacteria. Sustained release of drugs … Continue reading IIT Guwahati uses water-repelling cotton for sustained drug release
IIT Guwahati’s chitosan-based gel selectively removes oil or water
Researchers at IIT Guwahati have chemically modified the chitosan to make it selectively remove either oil or water phase from an oil-water mixture. In a first, they made it possible to switch liquid repellence of the material from extremely water-repelling to extremely oil-repelling and vice versa. A natural biopolymer, chitosan (a kind of polysaccharide obtained from … Continue reading IIT Guwahati’s chitosan-based gel selectively removes oil or water
IIT Guwahati uses aloe vera to remove oil from water
IIT Guwahati researchers have synthesised an extremely oil-repelling (super oleophobic) membrane using an aloe vera gel-based coating modified with some molecules. This is the first time a naturally occurring material has been used for the said purpose. The membrane could be reused at least 25 times to separate light and heavy oil from water with … Continue reading IIT Guwahati uses aloe vera to remove oil from water
IIT Guwahati develops superhydrophobic coating that mimics lotus leaves, rose petals
IIT Guwahati researchers have developed a superhydrophobic coating that can make the surface behave like a lotus leaf where water droplets roll off easily or a rose petal where the droplets stick till the angle of tilt goes beyond 20 degrees. The coating, which can be spray-painted on diverse surfaces of any geometry and size, has several … Continue reading IIT Guwahati develops superhydrophobic coating that mimics lotus leaves, rose petals
IIT Guwahati uses superhydrophobic cotton to remove oil-spill
Using superhydrophobic cotton Dr. Uttam Manna and his team were able to remove 95% of oil-spills, both light and heavy oils. The efficiency of absorption was above 2,000 weight percentage for both heavy and light oils. The superhydrophobic cotton was able to absorb oil from three complex phases, and could be used repetitively at least 100 times. Removing … Continue reading IIT Guwahati uses superhydrophobic cotton to remove oil-spill
IIT Madras develops extremely water-repellent coating
The superhydrophobic coating exhibits a water contact angle of more than 160 degrees. It has high mechanical durability and chemical stability, and can be coated or spray painted on any surface including paper and glass. Nanocellulose-based liquid dispersion that renders the coated surface extremely water repellent — superhydrophobic with water contact angle more than 160 degrees — … Continue reading IIT Madras develops extremely water-repellent coating