Saving Lives from Accidents

Novel polymer nanocomposite developed by Indian scientists have created a base for road safety sensor for accident prone turnings

India, unfortunately, has a dismal record of having highest number of fatalities from road accidents in the world.

The Annual Report 2023-24 of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) shares accident figures during the calendar year 2022. During the year, 461,312 accidents caused injuries to 443,366 persons and killed 168,491 people. The year 2005 recorded 94,968 fatalities. Over 17 years, there has been a 177 percent increase in deaths. This trend sharply contrasted with global road deaths, which showed a decline. MORTH figures revealed that two-wheelers were involved in 44.5 percent of road deaths in 2022. Pedestrians who lost their lives made up 19.5 percent, light motor vehicles 12.5 percent, heavy vehicles 6.3 percent, autorickshaws 3.9 percent, bicycles 2.9 percent and buses 2.4 percent, with others accounting for 8 percent.

The national highways and expressways accounted for 39.2 percent of road accidents and 36.2 percent of deaths. The state highways shared 23.1 percent of crashes and 24.3 percent fatalities. The rest of the roads accounted for 43.9 percent of accidents and 39.4 percent of deaths. Tamil Nadu had the dubious distinction of the highest number of accidents, Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of persons killed, and over-speeding stood as the major accident culprit, responsible for 72.3 per cent of all road accidents and 71.2 per cent of deaths in 2022. Driving on the wrong side led to 5.4 percent of fatalities. Strikingly, 67 percent of accidents happened on straight roads. Accidents on curved, steep and potholed roads accounted for a mere 13.8 percent of accidents. Sadly, young people in the age group of 18-45 years made up 66.5 percent of victims, and those in the working age group of 18 to 60 years were involved in an overwhelming 83.4 percent of road fatalities.

However, the good news is that a prototype of a road safety sensor that can be implanted at high-risk turning points where accidents are frequent, has been developed by the Indian scientists from a new polymer nanocomposite with pressure sensing and energy harvesting properties.

Scientists are constantly trying to develop new materials for self-powered energy generating and pressure sensing devices and using them for several applications. Flexible, portable, long-lasting, and wearable sensors and energy harvesting devices can play an essential part in today’s artificial intelligence era. Polymers and nanoparticles serve critical roles in today’s flexible electronic systems.

Researchers from Centre for Nano and Soft matter Sciences (CeNS), Bengluru have developed a polymer nanocomposite for pressure sensing and energy harvesting applications and used it to invent a prototype of a road safety sensor.

The prototype may be implanted in the movable ramp and secured to the road just 100 meters before acute and fatal turning points. Thus, any vehicle approaching from the opposite side will see the signal on a screen and be alerted. This prototype works on the principle of piezoelectric effect so it can generate energy that can be stored and used further to power electronic gadgets as well.

The novel polymer nanocomposite, from which the prototype has been crafted, has been made of transition metal dichalcogenide.

The scientists, Shri Ankur Verma, Dr. Arjun Hari Madhu, Dr. Subash Cherumannil Karumuthil synthesized vanadium disulfide (VS2) with a very high surface charge which has the capacity of improving the piezoelectric characteristics of polymers. Polymer nanocomposite films were prepared by integrating these nanoparticles at various concentrations into a well-known piezoelectric polymer, poly (vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF).

Further they investigated how the surface charge of nanoparticles will affect the piezoelectric properties of polymer nanocomposite. In addition, a laboratory-scale demonstration of a road safety sensor and smart door was established, with the prototype as a pressure sensor.

This study demonstrates that PVDF-VS2 nanocomposites will provide significant value to flexible, long-term energy generating and pressure sensing applications. This work was recently published in the Journal of Material Chemistry A and an Indian patent application filed.

This study is part of an ongoing project “Materials for self powered energy generating and pressure sensing devices” funded by Department of Science and Technology under INSPIRE –faculty fellowship programme.