An IIT-Madras Alumnus Has Made A Fabric, Claims It Can Kill Bacteria And Airborne Viruses

Deepthi Nathala has come up with a product called 'Hecoll'. It is a washable and reusable face mask and headgear that protects us from airborne viruses. She is the founder of Hyderabad-based Dibbu Solutions and her innovation got 2nd place at the TiE Women Regional Finals, hosted by TiE Hyderabad as per a report in The New Indian Express.

Deepthi is an alumnus of IIT-Madras of the 2007 batch. She says her product can block 99% UV rays and 95% air pollution too.

¡°The fabric is proven and tested against H1N1, Covid-19, Ecoli, and Salmonella and is safe against dust, S02, NO2, pollen and ultraviolet A and B sun rays,¡± she said.

EPS

¡°Hyderabad¡¯s pollution and the scorching tropical sun were too much to bear. I started looking for solutions. Sunscreen was not an option as many brands are getting banned as they use harsh chemicals and 142 billion of plastic waste that is being generated," she added.

¡°Being a nanotechnologist, I did not support surgical mask and N95 masks which are a disaster to dispose of ¨C millions of contaminated waste ¨C as they are biomedical waste," she went on to say.

Microbioz

She moved back to India in 2019 after working in USA and UAE.

This is a nice innovation and could be an effective way to walk around safely. Especially at a time COVID is a major threat to us every step of the way.