US grants patent to GCU Nano-Fertilizer

Lahore: The Government College University, Lahore scientists Friday got the honor to have the first international achievement of 2015 as the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to the university’s Nano Fertilizer that produces healthy food and significantly increases the crop yield. It was revealed by the Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Khaleeq-ur-Rahman through a notification to the university’s academic and administrative heads including Director, Research Innovation and Commercialization who will forward it to the country’s leading fertilizer industries for future collaboration.

The “Nano-Leucite Fertilizer” invented by a group of GCU young scientists led by Dr Muhammad Akhyar Farrukh, an associate professor of chemistry, is a revolution for green environment as it ensures minimum nutrient loss in food and increases overall production.

Vice Chancellor Prof Rahman said that keep in view the global food crisis, it is necessary to increase the food production. “Fertilizers which are in practice now have a major disadvantage that 50 percent of nutrient contents loss due to leaching and also leads to ground water contamination. He said that Nano-Leucite Fertilizer, invented by the GCU scientists, is a specialized slow release nitrogenous fertilizer in which they have a minimum nutrient loss due to leaching.

To be more scientific, he said that Potassium Aluminum Silicate (Leucite) nanoparticles occluded by calcium ammonium nitrates are slow release fertilizers and are synthesized by hydrothermal method.

The vice chancellor said stage had come at GCU where young scientists were talking about innovations and inventions. However, he said, there was dire need that these innovations and inventions were transformed into technology by the industry, so that Pakistan could develop and emerge on the world map as prosperous nation. He proudly said Dr Akhyar Farrukh, representing GCU, had got third US patent to his credit.

Prof Rahman expressed gratitude to Higher Education Commission (HEC) for their support for registering the patent at the international level.

Dr Akhyar Farrukh did his Vice Chancellor credit for the patent, saying that this prestigious achievement was impossible without the expert advices by Prof Khaleeq-ur-Rahman as nanotechnologist, but he didn’t take any credit for it. It is also pertinent to mention here that Prof Rahman and Dr Farrukh are also inventors of two nano-drugs used for fighting fatal infections.

Dr Farrukh said GCU was establishing another state-of-the-art nanotechnology laboratory at GCU which would further enhance the research in this technically important filed.