IIT Mandi researchers develop portable UV-C light based disinfection box, foot-operated hand sanitizer dispenser

A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi has developed an ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light-based portable disinfection box and a foot-operated hand sanitizer dispenser for sanitizing hands.

The foot-operated sanitizer can be used without touching contaminated surfaces of the sanitizer bottle. Both of these low-cost products have been designed with an aim to help contain the spread of COVID-19.

The UV-C light-based portable disinfection box has been designed and will be made available at a cost of Rs 35,000 to disinfect household items like metallic, plastic and cardboard products, wallets, keys, spectacles, bags, courier packages, and parcels.

The team of researchers, including Dr. Himanshu Pathak and Dr. Sunny Zafar, Assistant Professors, School of Engineering, IIT Mandi, identified the capability of UV-C light for disinfecting objects.

“The prototype has been tested in an in-house lab facility at IIT Mandi against the bacteria Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The prototype shows 99 percent efficacy to kill both bacteria within 40 seconds of UV-C light exposure,” the researcher said in a statement.

“On testing, the researchers found that UV-C lamps did not heat up the disinfected product. The structure of the box is based on a UV-C opaque covered frame. It consists of a cuboid container made of a wooden board (furniture grade) with a two-layer aluminum foil coating to prevent UV-C light leakage. Ten UV-C lamps with designated ratings are used to provide UV-C light exposure to object surfaces. These lamps are connected with automatic timer control that regulates the dose of UV-C light as per requirement for the specific object," the statement added.

The foot-operated hand-sanitizer dispenser has been developed by another team of researchers at the institute. A team that is led by Navish Sharma, technical assistant, Civil Engineering, IIT Mandi, along with his team members, Tilak Raj and Hans Raj, developed this low-cost foot-operated hand sanitizer dispenser for sanitizing hands without touching contaminated surfaces of the sanitizer bottle.

“In this dispenser, a spring reinforced foot pedal is installed which is connected to a pipe with a holder in which the sanitizer bottle will be placed. On pressing the foot pedal the sanitizer holder will lift and the bottle head will be pressed by a glass cap,” the researchers said in a statement.