Here is a device that sanitises currency

Hyderabad: Three students from Lord's College who are pursuing engineering have come up with a device that disinfects currency. Sohrab Samad, Taha and Mohammed Sumair Khan, have named the portable device 'Money Cure' that sanitizes notes and coins.

Sohrab Samad said, "I read a journal on how currency gets infected. I realized the importance of sterilizing currency after reading that journal which showed that many sorts of pathogens and bacteria are present on the currency. Due to this, during the start of the lockdown, my friends and I tried to collect relevant facts about the same and planned to develop a device."

"During the lockdown, since all the shops were closed we faced a lot of issues to gather all the raw materials and equipment that were required. We however got access for the raw materials after the relaxation," adds Samad.

They have still not received any certification for the product. However, they are expecting to launch the product in another 20 days. The currency sanitizer, which took around two months to be developed will be sold at Rs 6,000-10,000 and can be used at any shops, malls and can also be used for personal use.

How the device works

The device is shaped like a box that uses UV rays to disinfect the currency. The portable device consists of two trays: an input tray where a user can place the cash, and an output tray. Using feed technology, the device will go through the bunch of notes one-by-one, and bring them out to the output tray. There is also a separate provision to sterilise coins.

These ultraviolet rays, which have a wavelength of 222 nanometers, come under the far UV category, and are often used to disinfect wounds. Exposure to the rays for about 3-4 seconds is enough to disinfect a surface.

He adds further, "The UV rays of this category are user-friendly and will not cause any harm to the skin or the eyes. We are using this on currency, so that there are no health hazards involved."

"While this is a basic version of the device, we plan to add more features to the new, advanced versions. The device will be of a bigger size, so that you can disinfect A4 size documents as well. Another feature that can be added is the feature of counting denominations of the currency notes. There are many possibilities that we can explore in this device," concludes Samad.