Lucknow: As hand sanitisers became the most sought-after item due to the coronavirus pandemic in India, a team of students and teachers of Lucknow University began making its own in its lab. The item developed by the department of chemistry is being used across the university — from the Vice-Chancellor to the staff workers.
The sanitser bottled in 100 ml bottles named ‘LUCHEM’ by the department comprises majorly of alcohol and other ingredients.
Speaking to media on the preventive measures developed by the university, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alok Kumar Rai said, “At first it was discussed to get the sanitisers from the market, then I asked my Chemistry department to do something in this regard. The Chemistry department came up with our very own hand sanitiser ‘LUCHEM’ which is majorly made up of alcohol, rose water, distilled water, and some colour.”
However, since the university cannot sell the item in the market as per university guidelines, the sanitizers are being distributed throughout the university so that everyone can protect themselves from the spread of coronavirus, he said.
The name given to the sanitiser derives itself from its developing team, the Lucknow University chemistry department. A bottle comes with an attached sticker mentioning 100 years along with the official logo of the University.
The university has given the item to the Chancellor Anandiben Patel who is also the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. The self-made hand sanitiser will also be presented to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and distributed among other departments of the government.
As per information, five professors along with some students of the university came together to make the item. The head of the chemistry department, Prof. Naveen Khare, said, “The idea was formulated after testing of alcoholic sanitisers found that it is capable of killing 99% of germs.”
Explaining about the logistics related to the pricing he said, “Since we are using the spray bottle, the price of the bottle is a bit high at the moment. A bottle of 100 ml of hand sanitiser is coming around 25 to 30 rupees. Even though the sanitisers cannot be used commercially in the market, we are constantly working to make sanitizers for university employees.”
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