Aman K A and A U Nachiketha Kumar – two teenagers from the South Indian state of Karnataka – are awarded with the National Geographic Explorer Award by Google for developing a unique method of producing coagulating rubber.
Instead of ‘formic acid’, these teenagers’ rubber making process includes a special ingredient of ‘bimbli’ extract, which further make the product more viable as well as eco-friendly.
Elaborating their rubber making process Aman said, “We extracted the juice of bimbli fruits (scientific name is Averrhoa bilimbi) and added 60 ml of it to an
one-litre tray of rubber latex. We found that bimbli sped the process of coagulating rubber latex by 10 hours. With formic acid, usually the rubber takes about 16 hours to be made, but with bimbli extract it took only six hours to be formed.”
Tuning with Aman, 16-year-old Nachiketha said, “Ommiting the use of formic acid has not only get the process faster, but the rubber sheets produced are of far better quality than before.”
About the ecofriendly quality of the byproduct Nachiketha said that earlier, after the completion of the coagulation process, usually the trays in which rubber sheets are formed are left with a residual solution of formic acid which is often disposed into the soil. This very acidic solution, in a long-run, makes the soil unsuitable for agriculture. But adopting the use of bimbli extract into the process leads to the elimination of the use of chemicals like para-nitrophenol (used to give colour to the sheets) and formic acid. The same process that requires 100 ml of formic acid can now be managed with merely 60 ml of non-toxic bimbli extract, which in turn, makes the thing more cost-effective too.
Such unique idea of rubber making, pop into the mind of Aman when he came across a story narrated by his mother on how his grandfather, who was in rubber business for over four decades, would keep looking for alternatives when he ran out of formic acid – a vital ingredient in the coagulation of rubber latex to make sheets.
The ‘Science Fair’ where the duo have been awarded, was launched by Google last year. Amid 24 finalists from 14 countries around the world Aman and Kumar have successfully placed themselves among six award winners in different categories.
Other prize winners are :
* An Ireland resident who wants to save oceans by extracting harmful microplastics from waste water.
* An Indonesian student who set out to find affordable, non-invasive ways for members of her community to test their blood sugar levels.
* A science enthusiast of Turkey who found a way to harness energy from tree vibrations.
* A student from Russian who is in search of a better way to help those with impaired hearing communicate with the world around them.
