The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) has developed a wash-resistant coating for textiles—called Duraprot technology—that cross-links anti-bacterial and anti-viral components on to fibres through a simple dipping process. The coating is retained after several wash cycles and has been tested for 20 washes, a prerequisite as per textile standards.

IIT-B has filed two patents for the technology. The coating materials are also inexpensive, according to a report in a top English-language daily.

Rinti Banerjee, the Madhuri Sinha chair professor at IIT-B’s department of biosciences and bioengineering, and her team had originally developed the coating for medical textiles like hospital gowns, bed sheets and consumer products like socks and undergarments. The efficacy of the coating has been tested against samples of the Sars-Cov-2 virus in the laboratory.

Duraprot is licensed to Meemansa, a Mumbai-based textile and garment manufacturing company. Banerjee said talks are also under way with two to three other textile manufacturers.