Two researchers of the IIT (Indian School of Mines) in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, have developed water-repellent jute that can cope with the adverse environmental impact of using plastic bags to pack food grains and in other applications.

The researchers said that the newly developed water-repellent jute is cost-effective and has greater durability.

“At a time when there is an increased focus on cutting greenhouse gas emission to as close to zero as possible, a group of researchers of IIT (ISM) has developed water-repellent but biodegradable jute that has low carbon footprint compared to plastic sacks or bags, used in packaging of food grains,” Rajni Singh, dean branding and media, IIT (ISM), said.

Singh said the two-member research team led by associate professor of department of chemical engineering, Aditya Kumar and research scholar of the same department, Poonam Chauhan completed the research in two and half years and later also filed the patent application for the same in November last year.

“They used a silane-based coating (silane coating is a technologically advanced process that creates a protective barrier to improve the longevity of materials. This process can be applied to aluminum, concrete, and other substrates as well as fabrics) to make the jute water-repellent,” Singh said.

Explaining the process for the development of water-repellent jute, Aditya, the principal investigator of the project that began in February 2020, said: “We used inexpensive materials to develop the new jute and coating was done chemically via the spread method under ambient conditions without using any sophisticated instrument”.

“The coating is environmentally friendly and biodegradable, reducing the chance of any negative impact on the environment of human health,” Aditya said, adding the coated jute is mechanically durable and moreover the coating didn’t affect the weight or thickness of the Jute.