Aloe Vera Chemical May be Used in Memory Chips, States IIT Indore Study

IIT Indore has recently conducted a study that found that the popular succulent plant aloe vera known for its properties to soothe sunburns and other skin issues and even for improving digestive and oral health, surprisingly has a chemical that can be used to make memory chips and data storage devices.

An IIT Indore official said that they have found aloe vera to contain an “electronic memory effect chemical”. He said the study was carried out by the Materials and Device (MAD) laboratory of the institution’s physics department.

PhD student Tanushree Ghosh carried out the study along with Suchita Kandpal, Chanchal Rani, Manushree Tanwar, Devesh Kumar Pathak and Anjali Choudhary.

How was the IIT Indore study on aloe vera conducted?

“As part of our study, we used electric current in aloe vera fruit juice, which brought forth that it has an electronic memory effect chemical, and as per need, its conductivity can be increased and decreased,” Dr Rajesh Kumar, Associate Professor of the Physics Department of IIT Indore told PTI on Sunday.

“Synthetic chemicals are used for making data storage devices like memory chips. If experts on the subject go for in-depth research, the natural chemical found in aloe vera fruit juice might open up a new vista in place of synthetic chemicals with which these devices are made,” Dr Kumar informed.

Source: India Today