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The Times of India
The Times of India
National
Abhinav Malhotra | TNN

IIT Kanpur, Bombay devise technology to battle coronavirus

KANPUR : Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Bombay have jointly developed a technology named ‘Anti-Microbial Air Purification Technology’.

The technology has proved to be a path-breaking innovation against air pollutants as well as coronavirus, claims IIT-K.

The technology, tested at CSIR-IMTECH, proved to be able to deactivate SARS-CoV-2 virus with 99.9% efficacy within a minute.

This new technology was developed by AiRTH, a startup incubated at the Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC), IIT Kanpur.

It was Ravi Kaushik, the CEO and founder of AiRTH, who realized the limitations in the existing purification technologies, while pursuing his Masters in Environmental Engineering at IIT Bombay. He nurtured his idea to shape it into AiRTH. With guidance and support from Prof. Amitabha Bandopadhyay, Professor-in-charge of the Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre, IIT Kanpur, AiRTH was incubated.

Department of science and technology (DST), Government of India, played a crucial role in testing the prototypes, with validation from trusted and respected laboratories of India like CSIR-NPL, CSIR-CDRI, amongst others.

The new technology from AiRTH makes sure that the germs are deactivated due to its plant-based coating on the filters, UV irradiations and OH (Hydroxyl) radicals. It works on a D-C-D (Deactivate-Capture-Deactivate) mechanism, which can have upto 8000 times better disinfection efficiency compared to conventional UV-based air purifiers. The technology by AiRTH deactivates airborne pathogens and viruses via inflight deactivation.

In a recent event inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi to mark ten successful years of BIRAC, this innovation was among 75 products selected for launch. It has also been awarded the Nexus Start-up Development Grant, an initiative by the US Embassy along with a seed funding under the ‘Nidhi4covid2.0’, a special drive initiated by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) to support our country in fighting against covid.

AiRTH Anti Microbial Air Purifiers are already in use in hospitals, and has helped corporatesby ensuring business continuity .

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