Manipur University's chemistry department makes hand sanitizers

With the demand for hand sanitizers rising in the wake of the coronavirus scare, the chemistry department of Manipur University has made 500 bottles of ethyl alcohol-based hand sanitizers. So many bottles of sanitizers could be made with the help of the enthusiastic research scholars of the department, the head of the department, Prof Okram Mukherjee, told PTI on Sunday.

"Initially we made 200 bottles of hand sanitizers, weighing 200 ml each. Ethyl Alcohol (80 to 90 per cent), hydrogen peroxide, glycerol and distilled water were used to make the sanitiser in the laboratory, Prof Mukherjee said. In the first phase, 200 plastic bottles were procured from a local company on March 19. The sanitizers were distributed among the varsity community,  Mukherjee said.

Around 300 bottles of sanitizers were made on Saturday and the bottles will be distributed among local people if they approach the university," he said. We are in a position to make another 1,000 bottles, the professor said.

"Our product does not have any side-effects, Mukherjee claimed. Some bottles of hand sanitizers will be sent to the All India Radio station here as its employees have asked for sanitizers, he added.