IISc research team develops germ-destroying air filters

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IISc research team develops germ-destroying air filters
IANS
A newly-developed air filter supported by special grants from Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) can deactivate the germs, 'self-cleaning' them out of the system, using ingredients commonly found in green tea.
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A research team led by Suryasarathi Bose and Kaushik Chatterjee at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, developed germ-destroying air filters that can inactivate germs using ingredients like polyphenols and polycationic polymers commonly found in green tea. These 'green' ingredients rupture the microbes through site-specific binding.

Impure air might make our life shorter to the extent that Indians lose 5-10 years of their lives because of air-borne contaminants leading to respiratory diseases, adversely affecting physical health as well as mental health, according to a report by University of Chicago.

The research was supported by special grants from SERB during the challenging Covid-19 pandemic and SERB-Technology Translation Awards (SERB-TETRA) funds and a patent has been filed on this.

Over continuous usage, the existing air filters become a breeding ground for captured germs. The growth of these germs clog the pores of the filter, reducing the life of the filters.

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Resuspension of these germs can infect people in the vicinity. The novel anti-microbial air filters were tested at the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories and were found to deactivate SARS-CoV-2 (delta variant) with an efficiency of 99.24 per cent. This technology was transferred to AiRTH, a startup that is replacing the existing germ-growing air filters with germ-destroying air filters for commercialisation, said the Ministry of Science and Technology on Saturday.

As this innovation holds promise to develop antimicrobial filters that can prevent endemics caused by air-borne pathogens, a patent was granted in 2022.

These novel antimicrobial filters in our ACs, central ducts and air purifiers can play a crucial role in our fight against air pollution and mitigate the spread of air-borne pathogens like coronaviruses.
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