Hyderabad: Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH)'s path-breaking research developed on smart phone-based sensors to detect adulteration in milk, is now published in the November 2018 issue of Food Analytical Methods journal.
The research was undertaken by a team led by Prof. Shiv Govind Singh, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Hyd. and comprising Dr. Soumya Jana and Dr. Siva Rama Krishna Vanjari, Associate Professors in the Dept of Electrical Engineering, IIT Hyd. and others.
As a first step, the research team has developed a sensor-chip based method for measuring pH, an indicator to check acidity.
The researchers have used a process called 'electro-spinning' to produce paper-like material made of nano-sized fibres of nylon, loaded with a combination of three dyes. The paper is 'halo-chromic', that is, it changes colour in response to changes in acidity.
The researchers have developed a prototype smart phone-based algorithm, in which, the colours of the sensor strips after dipping in milk are captured using the camera of the phone, and the data is transformed into pH (acidity) ranges.
