Three postgraduate students were injured after a blast in the university lab at the Songjiang District campus of Donghua University yesterday morning.
The incident happened around 10:30am. The students belonged to Donghua's College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, the university said.
Two students, both male, are still in Ruijin Hospital, while another student was allowed to go after receiving first aid. None of the injuries are life-threatening, the university said.
The hospital said the faces and eyes of the students were burnt by the chemical reaction that included potassium permanganate.
Police and work safety authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion.
The accident again raises concerns over safety measures at university labs after similar incidents before.
A postgraduate student of East China University of Science and Technology died in May this year while conducting an experiment at a local wax factory run by his teacher. Another postdoctoral researcher at Tsinghua University also died in a similar explosion in December.