: IIT Grad Invents Patented Fabric That Kills Viruses, Blocks UV Rays Is Eco-Friendly Too #IndiaNEWS #Hyderabad After working for a decade in the Middle East, USA and South America, Deepthi Nathala

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IIT Grad Invents Patented Fabric That Kills Viruses, Blocks UV Rays Is Eco-Friendly Too #IndiaNEWS #Hyderabad
After working for a decade in the Middle East, USA and South America, Deepthi Nathala came back home to Hyderabad in December 2018. Upon arrival, however, she realised that her body could not adjust to the environment. Suffering a mild headache and skin irritation during regular drives in the city, Deepthi realised she needed some protection from the burning rays of the sun, excess dust, air pollution and germs. (Image above of Deepthi Nathala, the innovator behind Hecoll fabric, who is standing on the extreme right with potential customers. )
While travelling, she saw women wrap dupattas (long scarves) and handkerchiefs around their head and mouth to protect themselves. With some free time on her hands, this nanotechnologist who graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M), decided to conduct some tests on dupattas and handkerchiefs sold in the market.
She found that the material used to make these items only offered a dismal 10% to 15% protection from pollution and UV rays. Existing solutions like a hand sanitiser, N95 mask and sunscreen also generate a lot of plastic waste. In addition, used N95 masks should be treated as biomedical waste. You cant throw them into any ordinary dustbin. Sunscreens, meanwhile, are effective only for a couple of hours upon application.
After months of research, she developed a fabric called ‘Hecoll’—abbreviation for ‘Healthy Cover For All’—which blocks 99% UV rays, filters 95% pollution and inhibits viruses and bacteria upon contact—under her venture, Dibbu Solutions Private Ltd. With eco-friendly cotton at its base, she figured out a method to bind the fabric with ‘bodyguard molecules’, that could filter particulate matter, block UV rays and kill viruses/bacteria upon contact.
Deepthi Nathala (Left) and travelers wearing the Hecoll headgear.
Cotton as a fabric alone cannot fight off these viruses or block out UV rays but there are cavities in the fabric that can be filled up with ‘bodyguard molecules’.
These bodyguard molecules come in three forms:
a) Extracted from plants like turmeric and neem, these are nonpolar molecules that have germ-killing abilities and UV ray absorption capacities.
b) Metal components like nanosilver and nano copper also possess germ-killing properties and UV ray absorption capacity. After all, we store water in copper vessels and use copper instruments for treating wounds, among other medical uses.
c) Going beyond plant and metal-based ‘bodyguard molecules’, one can even employ certain chemical compositions using nanotechnology to fill up those cavities.
“As part of our research and development, we explored all three options.

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