STEAMBOAT

Popular Science talk series initiated by HBCSE, TIFR

Latest Talk Season: 2 | Episode: 11

Indigo and its blue revolutions!

Date: 10/09/2023   Time: 11:00:00

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Language: English

SPEAKER
Indrani Das Sen

Indrani Das Sen is associated with the Indian National Chemistry Olympiad programme and the National Initiative on Undergraduate Science (NIUS) programme in chemistry, at HBCSE. She develops and standardizes experiments for both undergraduate and school levels. She has been guiding student projects in analytical and inorganic chemistry under the NIUS programme.

Indigo and its blue revolutions!

The immensely popular blue jeans owe a major portion of its popularity to the versatile blue color, indigo. Indigo dye, originally sourced from plants belonging to Indigofera and Isatis genera, has been in use as early as 6000 years ago, as revealed by excavations from an archaeological site at Peru. Closer to home, excavations from the Indus Valley civilisation unearthed seeds of four different species of Indigofera plant and a blue dyed cloth material. Large scale production of indigo started in India in the late 16th century by the East India Company. The oppressive practices around the cultivation and production of indigo led to several people’s movements including the famous Indigo Revolt of 1859 in Bengal. This STEAMboat session will dwell upon the history of this blazing dye, its industrial synthesis and dyeing procedure.