Impact of Biofield Treatment on Chemical and Thermal Properties of Cellulose and Cellulose Acetate

What is it about?

Cellulose being an excellent biopolymer has cemented its place firmly in many industries as a coating material, textile, composites, and biomaterial applications. In the present study, we have investigated the effect of biofield treatment on physicochemical properties of cellulose and cellulose acetate. The cellulose and cellulose acetate were exposed to biofield and further the chemical and thermal properties were investigated. X-ray diffraction study asserted that the biofield treatment did affect the crystalline nature of cellulose. The percentage of crystallite size was found increased significantly in treated cellulose by 159.83%, as compared to control sample. This showed that biofield treatment was changing the crystalline nature of treated cellulose. However treated cellulose acetate showed a reduction in crystallite size (-17.38%) as compared to control sample. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) of treated cellulose showed no improvement in melting temperature as compared to control sample. Contrarily cellulose acetate showed significant improvement in melting temperature peak at 351.91ºC as compared to control (344ºC) polymer. Moreover percentage change in latent heat of fusion (∆H) was calculated from the DSC thermogram of both treated and control polymers. A significant increase in percentage ∆H of both treated cellulose (59.09%) and cellulose acetate (105.79%) polymers indicated that biofield treatment enhanced the thermal stability of the treated polymers. CHNSO analysis revealed a significant change in percentage hydrogen and oxygen of treated cellulose (%H-17.77, %O-16.89) and cellulose acetate (%H-5.67, %O-13.41). Though minimal change was observed in carbon percentage of both treated cellulose (0.29%) and cellulose acetate (0.39%) polymers as compared to their respective control samples. Thermo gravimetric analysis and Differential thermo gravimetric (TGA-DTG) analysis of treated cellulose acetate (353ºC) showed increased maximum thermal decomposition temperature as compared to control polymer (351ºC). This showed the higher thermal stability of the treated cellulose acetate polymer; although the maximum thermal decomposition temperature of treated cellulose (248ºC) was decreased as compared to control cellulose (321ºC). These outcomes confirmed that biofield treatment has changed the physicochemical properties of the cellulose polymers.

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Why is it important?

Polymer based materials; especially naturally occurring biopolymers have been widely used as biomaterials for tissue engineering, artificial skin, wound healing, sutures, tissue constructs, gene delivery, and drug delivery [1]. Cellulose is one of the most abundant naturally occurring biopolymer on earth [2-3]. Several naturally occurring fibers including cotton; and higher plants contain cellulose as their main constituent [4-5]. It consists of long chains of anhydro-D-glucopyranose units (AGU); each cellulose molecule possesses three hydroxyl groups per AGU, with an exception of terminal ends. Cellulose is insoluble in water and in most commonly used organic solvents [3], the poor solubility of cellulose is attributed to strong inter and intra-molecular hydrogen bonding between the individual chains [2]. Cellulose based materials are being employed as components of scaffolds for bone regeneration (Gengiflex®), artificial blood vessel (BASYC®), temporary skin substitutes (Biofill®), hemodialysis membranes (Cuprophan® and Fresenius Polysulfone®) and controlled drug release systems [6-10]. In chronic wound dressing, it has provided the moist environment for optimal wound healing due to its ability to absorb water directly into its fibers (AQUACEL® and Cellstick® ) [11]. Recently, cellulose has been proposed to be used as a dialysis membrane for bio artificial pancreas and immuno-isolation of islet transplantation [12]. Cellulose acetate is the ester of cellulose, which is utilized in the production of high-quality fiber mats. Cellulose acetate confers excellent thermal and mechanical properties, which make it an excellent material for diverse applications in engineering, plastics, and bio-materials [13-15]. Ye et al. attempted to prove that the proper surface modification of cellulose acetate can make it fascinating for biomaterial applications [16]. Chemical modification of cellulose was performed to improve processability and to produce cellulose derivatives (cellulosic), which can be tailored to specific industrial applications [17]. Biofield is a cumulative effect, induced by particular human body on external surroundings. Mr. Trivedi is well known to transform the physical and structural properties at the atomic level of the various living and non-living things through his unique biofield. We have previously reported that Mr. Trivedi’s biofield, herein referred as Biofield treatment, has significantly enhanced the structural, atomic and thermal properties of transition metals, metal oxides, ceramics and carbon allotropes [18-26]. It was observed that in various ceramic and metal powders, the biofield exposure had substantially changed the lattice parameter, unit cell volume, density, crystallite size and molecular weight. For example, the biofield treatment had increased the particle size by 21.1% in zirconium oxide which was never been observed in case of ceramics and it was postulated that biofield had caused deformation of the crystals without activating the fracture paths [24]. Additionally, biofield has significantly enhanced the yield and quality of various agriculture products [27-30]. Moreover, Mr. Trivedi’s biofield has caused changes in the antibiotic susceptibility patterns as well as produced biochemical reactions that induced changes in the characteristics of pathogenic microbes [31-33]. Furthermore biofield has significantly improved the growth and anatomical characteristics of herb Pogostemon cablin [34]. Having inspired by excellent properties of cellulose and cellulose acetate, we put an attempt to modify the physicochemical parameters of cellulose polymers through biofield treatment, which were characterized for their physicochemical properties by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and CHNSO analysis.

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