Physical, Thermal and Spectroscopic Characterization of Biofield Treated p-Chloro-m-cresol

p-Chloro-m-cresol (PCMC) is widely used in pharmaceutical industries as biocide and preservative. However, it faces the problems of solubility in water and photo degradation. The aim of present study was to evaluate the impact of biofield treatment on physical, thermal and spectral properties of PCMC. For this study, PCMC sample was divided into two groups i.e., one served as treated and other as control. The treated group received Mr. Trivedi’s biofield treatment and both control and treated samples of PCMC were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area analyser, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GCMS). The XRD result showed a 12.7% increase in crystallite size in treated samples along with increase in peak intensity as compared to control. Moreover, surface area analysis showed a 49.36% increase in surface area of treated PCMC sample as compared to control. The thermal analysis showed significant decrease (25.94%) in the latent heat of fusion in treated sample as compared to control. However, no change was found in other parameters like melting temperature, onset temperature of degradation, and Tmax (temperature at which maximum weight loss occur). The FT-IR spectroscopy did not show any significant change in treated PCMC sample as compared to control. Although, the UV-Vis spectra of treated samples showed characteristic absorption peaks at 206 and 280 nm, the peak at 280 nm was not found in control sample. The control sample showed another absorbance peak at 247 nm. GC-MS data revealed that carbon isotopic ratio (?13C) was changed up to 204% while ?18O and ?37Cl isotopic ratio were significantly changed up to 142% in treated samples as compared to control. These findings suggest that biofield treatment has significantly altered the physical, thermal and spectroscopic properties, which can affect the solubility and stability of p-chloro-m-cresol and make it more useful as a pharmaceutical ingredient.

The XRD study showed the increase in crystallinity as well as crystallite size (12.71%) in treated sample as compared to control. The increase in crystallinity might be due to breaking of intermolecular bonding after biofield treatment that results in more symmetrical alignment of PCMC molecules. The surface area analysis also revealed 49.54% increase in surface area which might be helpful to increase the solubility of treated PCMC as compared to control sample. The DSC analysis of treated sample showed 25.94% decrease in ?H value as compared to control, which probably occurred due to absence of intermolecular bonding in biofield treated sample as reported in XRD studies. The UV-Vis spectroscopic study revealed that biofield treatment probably reduces the photo degradation of PCMC sample. On the other hand, the GC-MS data revealed the alteration in the isotopic ratio of ?13C, ?18O and ?37Cl and increase in abundance of ?13C, ?18O and ?37Cl in biofield treated samples as compared to control. The increased abundance of heavier isotopes suggests the increased stability of treated samples as compared to control. In spite of wide applications of PCMC, its effectiveness was reduced in presence of oils, fats or non-ionic surfactants. Also it faces solubility problem in water and can undergo the process of photo degradation which causes stability issues. Hence, on the basis of above study results, it is concluded that biofield treatment has significantly altered the physical, thermal and spectroscopic properties of PCMC which could make it more suitable with respect to increased solubility and stability profile along with reduction in problem of photo degradation.