India develops low-cost touchless sensor to avoid infections

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Published : Mar 14, 2022, 11:03 PM IST

India develops low-cost touchless sensor to avoid infections

This technology, which is usually referred as touchless touch sensor, can be printed through a unique printing technique developed by Indian scientists and can restrain spread of highly contagious virus through contact.

New Delhi: In a major scientific breakthrough that will help contain the spread of viruses and pathogens such as coronavirus, Indian scientists have developed an affordable solution to manufacture a low-cost touch-cum-proximity sensor, the department of science said on Monday. This sensor is so efficient that it can detect a hover or proximity movement from a distance of 9 centimeters from the screen.

This technology, which is usually referred as touchless touch sensor, can be printed through a unique printing technique developed by Indian scientists and can restrain spread of highly contagious virus through contact.

Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS)

This technology is developed by Bengaluru based scientists from the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced and Scientific Research (JNCASR), and autonomous institutes of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), who have recently set up a semi-automated production plant for the production of printing-aided patterned (resolution of around 300 µm) transparent electrodes.

These electrodes have the potential for being utilized in advanced touchless screen technologies, which are called touchless touch-cum-proximity sensors. This breakthrough research is done by a team of scientists led by Professor GU Kulkarni and his co-workers. It was funded by DST-Nanomission at CeNS and has been published in the journal ‘Materials Letters’ recently.

Sensor works from a distance of 9 cms

“We have fabricated a touch sensor which senses a proximal or hover touch even from a distance of 9 cm from the device,” said Dr Ashutosh K Singh, a scientist working on this project. Dr Indrajit Mondal, another co-author in the research, said the team was making a few more prototypes using patterned electrodes to prove their feasibility for other smart electronic applications.

“These patterned electrodes can be made available to interested industries and Research and Development labs on a request basis to explore collaborative projects,” Dr Mondal added. According to officials in the department of science, these novel low-cost patterned transparent electrodes have tremendous potential to be used in advanced smart electronic devices such as touchless screens and sensors.

WHO emphasis on washing hands

The World Health Organization (WHO) advises washing hands with soaps or to use alcohol based sanitizers on regular intervals to kill the contagious viruses and bacteria such as Covid-19 virus. The fear of contracting coronavirus through a contaminated surface was acute during the first and second wave that some people have stopped using lifts in offices and housing societies and rather used elevators or stairs.

World over authorities were using disinfectants to clean the surfaces at public places such as hospitals and nursing homes, banks, factories, airports where the risk of contracting the virus by touching a contaminated surface was considered high. Officials said the coronavirus pandemic has triggered efforts to make human lifestyle more adaptable to the pandemic.

“Actions are naturally driven to strategies to reduce the risk of viruses spreading, particularly in public places where touchscreens on self-service kiosks, ATMs, and vending machines are nearly inevitable,” they said.

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