Kerala Students Project On Ocean Oil-Spill Goes Global; To Represent India At International Science Fair

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The Logical Indian Crew

Kerala Students' Project On Ocean Oil-Spill Goes Global; To Represent India At International Science Fair

Annually, around 2.6 billion litres of oil are spilt into the ocean, affecting aquatic life; their project aims to combat this man-made disaster.

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In a proud moment, two class 12th students from Kochi city of Kerala have been selected to represent India at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2022, which is to be held in May in Atlanta city of the United States.

Both 17-year-old Sarah Varghese and Devika Girish of St. Peter's Senior Secondary School, Kadayiruppu, carried out a project at the Department of Polymer Science and Rubber Technology at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT). It was featured in the list of Top 20 Projects in the Research and Innovation (IRIS) National Science Fair, 2022.

In a statement, CUSAT said that Sarah and Devika is the only research team from Kerala which got selected to IRIS.

Project On Ocean Oil-Spill

Annually, around 2.6 billion litres of oil are spilt into the ocean, affecting aquatic life; their project aims to combat this man-made disaster. Both the students from Perumbavoor worked on a project for oil-water separation. They prepared a bio-mimic superhydrophobic and oleophilic membrane inspired by heart-shaped Taro leaves.

The idea clicked Sarah and Devika while they were walking along the road and saw a person wiping off engine oil from his car's windshield with the help of a Taro leaf.

Guidance

The girls' prepared a highly porous polymer membrane with exceptional oil absorption properties. During the process, they were guided by Professor Prasanth Raghavan and his team at the Materials Science and NanoEngineering Lab (MSNE-Lab) in CUSAT.

The Times of India quoted Devika saying, "The polymer membrane will be able to minimize the ecological issues caused by oil spillage. We have strengthened the electrospun polymer membrane by incorporating Nanoengineered inorganic fillers, making them robust freestanding absorbance foams."

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Writer : Shiva Chaudhary
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Editor : Snehadri Sarkar
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Creatives : Shiva Chaudhary

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