Characterization of Physicochemical and Thermal Properties of Chitosan And Sodium Alginate after Biofield Treatment

Chitosan (CS) and sodium alginate (SA) are two widely popular biopolymers which are used for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications from many years. The objective of present study was to study the effect of biofield treatment on physical, chemical and thermal properties of CS and SA. The study was performed in two groups (control and treated). The control group remained as untreated, and biofield treatment was given to treated group. The control and treated polymers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, CHNSO analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), particle size analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). FT-IR of treated chitosan showed increase in frequency of –CH stretching (2925?2979 cm-1) vibrations with respect to control. However, the treated SA showed increase in frequency of –OH stretching (3182?3284 cm-1) which may be correlated to increase in force constant or bond strength with respect to control. CHNSO results showed significant increase in percentage of oxygen and hydrogen of treated polymers (CS and SA) with respect to control. XRD studies revealed that crystallinity was improved in treated CS as compared to control. The percentage crystallite size was increased significantly by 69.59% in treated CS with respect to control. However, treated SA showed decrease in crystallite size by 41.04% as compared to control sample. The treated SA showed significant reduction in particle size (d50 and d99) with respect to control SA. DSC study showed changes in decomposition temperature in treated CS with respect to control. A significant change in enthalpy was observed in treated polymers (CS and CA) with respect to control. TGA results of treated CS showed decrease in Tmax with respect to control. Likewise, the treated SA also showed decrease in Tmax which could be correlated to reduction in thermal stability after biofield treatment. Overall, the results showed that biofield treatment has significantly changed the physical, chemical and thermal properties of CS and SA.

This research work showed the impact of biofield treatment on physicochemical and thermal properties of CS and SA. FT-IR study showed increase in wavenumber of –CH stretching vibrations which may be associated with increase in bond strength and force constant. CHNSO analysis showed significant increase in percentage hydrogen and oxygen of treated CS and SA. XRD data revealed the crystalline nature of CS (control and treated) and a significant increase in percentage crystallite size (69.59%) was observed after biofield treatment. However, the treated SA showed decrease in crystallite size by 41.04% as compared to control. The particle size analysis of treated SA showed substantial reduction in particle size with respect to control. DSC study showed increase in exothermic temperature in treated CS which may be related to strong hydrogen bonding in the sample. Similarly increase in exothermic temperature was absorbed in treated SA with respect to control. A significant increase in ?H was observed in SA T1 by 281.82% and SA T2 by 108.27% with respect to control sample. Moreover, significant change in % enthalpy was evidenced in treated CS with respect to control. TGA results showed reduction in thermal stability of treated polymers (CS and SA) with respect to control. Overall, the results showed that biofield has caused significant impact on physical, chemical and thermal properties of the CS and SA. Hence, it is assumed that biofield treated CS and SA could be used as a matrix for controlled drug delivery systems.