CHENNAI: Among its several solutions to reduce pollution from tanneries, scientists at CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) have developed a cocktail of enzymes from a fungus commonly found in soil that can cut down effluent discharge by 60%. It can replace harmful chemicals used in tanning and save 60% of water from being used in the process.
The enzyme developed was one of the 13 experiments and technologies on display on Tuesday at the Open Day for students. The event was organised as part of the Indian International Science Festival and CSIR's platinum jubilee celebrations.
More than 100 students from schools and colleges learned the various stages of tanning, equipment like microscopes used in laboratories, nanomaterials being studied and novel leather products produced at CLRI.
"The idea is to exhibit experiments that may be interesting to both school and college students. We encouraged them to interact with our scientists," said Narasimhaswamy, senior principal scientist, Polymer division.
A quiz was conducted for students. "We saw lot of technologies like collagen extraction, dehairing done during tanning process and purification of domestic water. It was new and quite educational to us. This is only encouraging us to take up science in higher education," said Jahnavi Umesh, a Class 10 student from Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School.
Besides science students, those from other streams also took part in the event.