Physical, Thermal, and Spectroscopic Characterization of Biofield Energy Treated Methyl-2-Naphthyl Ether

Methyl-2-naphthyl ether (MNE) is an organic compound and used as the primary moiety for the synthesis of several antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory agents. This study was attempted to evaluate the impact of biofield energy treatment on the physical, thermal, and spectroscopic properties of MNE. The study was carried out in two groups i.e., control and treated. The treated group was subjected to Mr. Trivedi’s biofield treatment. Afterward, the control and treated samples of MNE were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area analyzer, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis-derivative thermogravimetric analysis (TGA-DTG), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. The XRD study exhibited the decrease in average crystallite size by 30.70%. The surface area analysis showed 5.32% decrease in surface area of the treated sample with respect to the control. The DSC thermogram of treated MNE exhibited no significant change in the melting temperature; however, the latent heat of fusion was slightly increased (0.83%) after biofield treatment as compared to the control sample. The TGA analysis showed the onset temperature of thermal degradation at 158â in the control sample that was reduced to 124â after biofield treatment. The result showed about 21.52% decrease in onset temperature of thermal degradation of treated MNE as compared to the control. Similarly, the end-set temperature of thermal degradation was also reduced by 13.51% after biofield treatment with respect to the control. The FT-IR and UV spectroscopic studies did not show any changes in the wavenumber and wavelength, respectively in treated MNE with respect to the control. Overall, the XRD, surface area and thermal analysis suggest that biofield treatment has the impact on physical and thermal properties of the treated MNE as compared to the control.


Introduction
Naphthalene has been described as new class of potent antimicrobials against wide range of human pathogens. It occupies a central place among biologically active compounds owing to its varied and exciting antibiotic properties with less toxicity [1]. Numerous naphthalene containing antimicrobial drugs are existing like naftifine, nafacillin, terbinafine, tolnaftate, etc. that plays vital role against microbial infections [2,3]. Further, the naphthalene derivatives like naproxen, nabumetone were also studied in depth as the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). They are mainly nonselective inhibitor of two cyclooxygenase (COX) isoform i.e., COX-1 and COX-2 [4,5]. Moreover, the structurally relative naphthalene derivatives lower the parathyroid level by binding to calcium receptor on the parathyroid gland. Thus, it helps to regulate hyperparathyroidism especially in kidney disease or parathyroid gland neoplasm [6]. Based on the importance of naphthalene derivative as a main moiety for organic synthesis of several pharmaceutical drugs, it is advantageous to find out the alternate approach that can enhance the physicochemical and thermal properties of naphthalene derivative i.e., methyl-2-naphthyl ether (MNE). Recently, an alternate treatment approach i.e., healing therapy or therapeutic touch, known as the biofield energy treatment, which was reported in several fields. The National Institute of Health/ National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NIH/ NCCAM) conceived the biofield energy treatment in subcategory of energy therapies (putative energy fields) [7,8] being used in healing process to reduce pain, anxiety and to promote the overall health of human being [9,10]. Biofield is an electromagnetic field that permeates and surrounds living organisms. This biologically produced electromagnetic and subtle energy field regulates the various physiological and communications functions within the human organism [11]. Researchers have attempted different biological studies and effects of biofield on various biomolecules such as proteins, antibiotics [12], bacterial cultures [13], and conformational change in DNA [14]. Prakash et al. reported that various scientific instruments such as Kirlian photography, resonance field imaging (RFI) and polycontrast interference photography (PIP) could be extensively used to measure the biofield of human body [15]. Thus, the human has the ability to harness the energy from the environment or Universe and transmit it to any living or nonliving object on the Globe. The object(s) receive the energy and respond into the useful way; this process is termed as biofield treatment. Mr. Trivedi's unique biofield energy treatment is known as The Trivedi Effect ® . Recently, biofield energy treatment has been described as an alternative method to alter the physicochemical and thermal properties of several metals and ceramics [16][17][18]. It has also reported to alter the spectroscopic properties of various pharmaceutical drugs like paracetamol, piroxicam, metronidazole, and tinidazole [19,20]. Moreover, the biofield treatment has been studied in

Abstract
Methyl-2-naphthyl ether (MNE) is an organic compound and used as the primary moiety for the synthesis of several antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory agents. This study was attempted to evaluate the impact of biofield energy treatment on the physical, thermal, and spectroscopic properties of MNE. The study was carried out in two groups i.e., control and treated. The treated group was subjected to Mr. Trivedi's biofield treatment. Afterward, the control and treated samples of MNE were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area analyzer, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis-derivative thermogravimetric analysis (TGA-DTG), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. The XRD study exhibited the decrease in average crystallite size by 30.70%. The surface area analysis showed 5.32% decrease in surface area of the treated sample with respect to the control. The DSC thermogram of treated MNE exhibited no significant change in the melting temperature; however, the latent heat of fusion was slightly increased (0.83%) after biofield treatment as compared to the control sample. The TGA analysis showed the onset temperature of thermal degradation at 158℃ in the control sample that was reduced to 124℃ after biofield treatment. The result showed about 21.52% decrease in onset temperature of thermal degradation of treated MNE as compared to the control. Similarly, the end-set temperature of thermal degradation was also reduced by 13.51% after biofield treatment with respect to the control. The FT-IR and UV spectroscopic studies did not show any changes in the wavenumber and wavelength, respectively in treated MNE with respect to the control. Overall, the XRD, surface area and thermal analysis suggest that biofield treatment has the impact on physical and thermal properties of the treated MNE as compared to the control. a heating rate of 5ºC/min under air atmosphere. The onset temperature of thermal degradation and percent change in temperature at which maximum weight loss occur in samples were obtained from DTG thermogram.

Spectroscopic studies
For the purpose of FT-IR and UV-Vis spectroscopic characterization, the treated sample was divided into two groups i.e., T1 and T2. Both the treated groups were then analyzed for spectroscopic characteristics employing FT-IR and UV-Vis spectroscopy and data were compared with the respective spectrum of control sample.

FT-IR spectroscopic characterization
The samples for FT-IR spectroscopy were prepared by crushing into fine powder and then mixing in spectroscopic grade KBr. Finally, the mixture was pressed into pellets with a hydraulic press and then used for analysis. The spectra were recorded from Shimadzu's Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (Japan) with the frequency range of 4000-500 cm -1 . The analysis was done to evaluate the impact of biofield energy treatment at the atomic levels like force constant, dipole moment, and bond strength in chemical structure [27].

Uv-Vis spectroscopic analysis
The samples solutions for UV spectroscopy were prepared in methanol. UV spectra of the control and treated samples of MNE were acquired from Shimadzu UV-2400 PC series spectrophotometer with quartz cuvette having slit widths of 2.0 nm. The wavelength was set between 200-400 nm for analysis. The study was carried out to evaluate the impact of biofield energy treatment on the energy gap of highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO gap) [27].

XRD analysis
XRD diffractograms of both control and treated MNE are shown in Figure 1. The control sample exhibited the XRD peaks at 2θ equal to 10.27º, 15.44º, 19.07º, 20.57º, 21.21º, 24.76º, 25.33º, and 28.77º. Likewise, the XRD diffractogram of treated MNE showed the XRD peaks at 2θ equal to 10.25º, 15.30º, 19.01º, 20.55º, 21.17º, 24.67º, 25.25º, and 28.84º. The intensity of peak was also altered after biofield energy treatment as compared to the control. XRD diffractograms of both the control and treated MNE showed the intense peaks, which suggest the crystalline nature of MNE. The decrease of XRD peaks intensity in treated sample might be attributed to the reduction in crystallinity and decrease in long-range order of the molecules. The crystallite size was calculated using Scherrer formula and the results are shown in Figure  2. The average crystallite size of the control MNE was observed as 84.55 nm that was decreased up to 58.59 nm in the treated sample. The result indicated about 30.70% decrease in average crystallite size of treated sample with respect to the control.
The increase in internal micro strain leads to decrease the corresponding crystallite size of the material [28]. Moreover, Zhang et al. reported that presence of strain and increased atomic displacement from their ideal lattice positions lead to reduction in crystallite size [29]. Hence, it is assumed that biofield energy treatment probably induce the internal strain in treated MNE sample. This might be responsible for the decrease in crystallite size of the treated MNE as compared to the control.

Surface area analysis
The surface area of control and treated samples of MNE were several fields like agriculture research [21,22], biotechnology research [23], and microbiology research [24,25].
Based on the published literature and outstanding impact of biofield energy treatment on various living and nonliving things, the present study was aimed to evaluate the impact of Mr. Trivedi's biofield energy treatment on physical, thermal and spectroscopic properties of MNE using several analytical techniques.

Study design
The Methyl-2-Naphthyl Ether was procured from Sisco Research Laboratories, India. The study was performed in two groups i.e., control and treated. The control sample was remained as untreated, and the treated group in sealed pack was handed over to Mr. Trivedi for biofield energy treatment under laboratory conditions. Mr. Trivedi provided the biofield energy treatment to the treated group through his unique energy transmission process without touching the sample. Subsequently, the control and treated samples of MNE were analyzed using several analytical techniques like X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy.

XRD study
The XRD analysis of the control and treated MNE was carried out on Phillips, Holland PW 1710 X-ray diffractometer with nickel filter and copper anode. The wavelength used in XRD system was 1.54056 Å. The XRD diffractograms were obtained in the form of a chart of 2θ vs. intensity. The crystallite size (G) and percent change in crystallite size of MNE were calculated using the following equations [26].

Percent change in crystallite size (G) = [(G t -G c )/G c ] ×100
Where, G c and G t are average crystallite size of control and treated powder samples respectively.

Surface area analysis
The surface area of the control and treated MNE was measured using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analyzer, Smart SORB 90. Percent change in surface area was calculated using following equation:

[ ]
Treated Control Control S -S % changein surface area = ×100 S Where, S Control and S Treated are the surface area of the control and treated samples, respectively.

DSC study
The control and treated samples of MNE were studied using a Pyris-6 Perkin Elmer differential scanning calorimeter on a heating rate of 10ºC/min under air atmosphere with air flow rate of 5 mL/ min. An empty pan sealed with cover was used as a reference pan. The melting temperature (T m ) and latent heat of fusion (ΔH) were obtained from the DSC curve.

TGA-DTG analysis
TGA-DTG analysis was conducted to investigate the thermal stability of the control and treated MNE. The studies were carried out on Mettler Toledo simultaneous TGA-DTG system. Both the control and treated samples were heated from room temperature to 400ºC with determined using BET surface area analyzer and data are presented in Figure 3. The surface area of the control and treated sample was observed as 0.4904 m 2 /g and 0.4643 m 2 /g, respectively. The result showed a considerable decrease in surface area i.e., 5.32% in the treated MNE as compared to the control sample. It is assumed that biofield energy treatment possibly induced the disappearance of inter-particle boundaries that may lead to the aggregation of particles and thus increase in particle size [30]. Presumably, this increase in particle size might lead to decrease in surface area of the treated sample.

DSC analysis
DSC analysis was performed to determine the melting temperature and latent heat of fusion (ΔH) of the control and treated MNE. DSC thermograms (Figure 4) of MNE showed the melting temperature at 73.72ºC in the control and 73.66ºC in the treated sample ( Table 1). The result depicted no significant change in melting temperature of treated sample as compared to the control. The melting temperature of control MNE was well supported by literature data [31]. DSC thermogram exhibited the ΔH of 147.49 J/g in control sample and 148.72 J/g in treated sample of MNE. The result showed about 0.83% increase in latent heat of fusion of treated sample as compared to the control. It is hypothesized that biofield energy treatment may cause absorption of energy during the phase transition from solid to liquid that might lead to increase the latent heat of fusion of treated sample with respect to the control. Previously, our group has reported that biofield energy treatment altered the value of latent heat of fusion in lead and tin powders [7].

TGA-DTG analysis
The TGA and DTG thermograms of control and treated samples of MNE are shown in Figure 5 and data are reported in Table 1. The onset temperature of thermal degradation was observed at 158°C and 124°C for the control and treated samples, respectively. Whereas, the end-set temperature of thermal degradation was found at 201°C and 178°C in the control and treated sample, respectively. The result showed about 21.52% decrease in the onset temperature and 11.44% decrease in the end-set temperature in treated sample with respect to the control. The percent weight loss during thermal decomposition was 63.41% in the control and 59.18% in the treated sample. It showed the decrease in % weight loss during thermal decomposition after biofield treatment. Based on this, it is presumed that biofield treated MNE may be more stable as compared to the control. The DTG thermogram exhibited the T max (the temperature at which the sample lost its maximum weight) at 177.81°C in the control sample and at 153.78°C in the treated sample of MNE. The result revealed about 13.51% decrease in T max of treated sample with respect to the control. This decrease in T max in treated sample might be due to increase in vaporization or volatilization [32] of treated MNE molecules after biofield energy treatment. It might be correlated with the alteration in internal energy through biofield energy treatment that results into earlier vaporization in treated sample as compared to the control.

FT-IR spectroscopic analysis
FT-IR spectra of the control and treated samples of MNE ( Figure  6) were inferred using the theoretically predicted wavenumber. The aromatic =C-H stretching peak was assigned at 3007-3057 cm -1 in all three samples i.e., the control and treated (T1 and T2). Likewise, the -C-H (methyl) stretching was attributed to peak at 2962 cm -1 in all three samples i.e., the control and treated (T1 and T2). The aromatic C=C stretching of naphthyl moiety was appeared in the region of 1508-

Parameter
Control Treated  1631 cm -1 in all the control and treated samples. The C-H asymmetrical bending peaks were observed at 1462-1475 cm -1 in the control and T1 sample; whereas, this peak was observed at 1452-1475 cm -1 region in T2 sample. In addition, the C-H symmetrical bending peak was observed at 1350 cm -1 in all three samples. The C-O stretching for ether linkage was observed at 1030 cm -1 in the control and the T2 sample while 1031 cm -1 in the T1 sample. The =C-H in-plane deformation peaks were observed at the frequency region of 1172-1259 cm -1 , whereas the C-H out of plane deformation peaks were observed at 742-837 cm -1 in all three samples. The observed FT-IR spectra were well supported with the literature data [33].

Uv-Vis spectroscopy
The UV spectra of control and treated (T1 and T2) samples are shown in Figure 7. The UV spectrum of control MNE exhibited the three different absorption maxima (λ max ) at 225.4, 270.4, and 327.2 nm. The Uv spectrum of T1 sample showed the similar pattern of λ max i.e., at 224.4, 270.4, and 327.2 nm. Whereas, the T2 sample sample exhibited the λ max at 233.0, 270.5, and 327.0 nm. The result indicated the shifting of λ max in T2 sample (233.0 nm) as compared to control (225.4 nm). Although, no change in λ max was observed in T1 sample of MNE. Overall, the UV-vis spectral analysis suggests that biofield energy treatment may not cause any significant alterations in the λ max of treated MNE samples with respect to the control.

Conclusion
In brief, the XRD diffractogram of biofield treated MNE exhibited the decrease in intensity of XRD peaks as well as the decrease in average crystallite size (30.70%) as compared to the control. The surface area analysis showed an increase (5.32%) in surface area of biofield treated MNE with respect to the control. The thermal analysis (DSC, TGA/ DTG) showed a decrease in T max by 13.51%. Moreover, the latent heat of fusion was slightly increased by 0.83% in treated sample as compared to the control.
Overall, it can be concluded that Mr. Trivedi's biofield energy treatment has the impact on physicochemical and thermal properties of treated MNE with respect to the control. Based on this, it is assumed that biofield treated MNE could be more useful chemical intermediate in the organic synthesis of various pharmaceutical drugs.