Shock Processing of Amino Acids Leading to Complex Structures-Implications to the Origin of Life.

The building blocks of life, amino acids, are believed to have been synthesized in the extreme conditions that prevail in space, starting from simple molecules containing hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. However, the fate and role of amino acids when they are subjected to similar processes largely remain unexplored. Here we report, for the first time, that shock processed amino acids tend to form complex agglomerate structures. Such structures are formed on timescales of about 2 ms due to impact induced shock heating and subsequent cooling. This discovery suggests that the building blocks of life could have self-assembled not just on Earth but on other planetary bodies as a result of impact events. Our study also provides further experimental evidence for the 'threads' observed in meteorites being due to assemblages of (bio)molecules arising from impact-induced shocks.

Spatially resolved solid-phase temperature characterization in a sillimanite tube furnace using a broadband two-color ratio pyrometry.

Tube furnaces are heating devices used for the synthesis of inorganic and organic compounds. It is essential to predict the spatially resolved temperature of solid substances placed inside tube furnaces in contact with its walls for a fixed steady temperature of the furnace walls. This enables efficient study of transport phenomena and control of the fabrication process in the furnace. In this work, the two-color ratio pyrometry (TCRP) using a digital single lens reflex camera has been used for the temperature characterization of a stainless steel metal sheet placed at the center of a 1000 mm long tube furnace. Temperature was measured for furnace walls set between 1000 K and 1426 K. The TCRP technique accounted for intensity from the heated target over the broadband visible region. The camera was calibrated and tested for signal linearity in its color channels for a fixed source illumination. The technique yields a mean sheet temperature of 979.5 K ± ∼24% (attributed to camera noise and uncertainties in gray level intensity, calibration lamp output, and monochromator and photodetector efficiency) and 1391 K ± 6.7% for a furnace wall temperature of 1000 K and 1426 K, respectively. Experiments showed that the effect of distance between the target and the camera on temperature measurement was negligible. Emission spectroscopy in the vis-near-infrared region (650-1100 nm) was also performed to predict sheet temperature. It yields results within 4.5% of TCRP at low furnace temperature but deviates by about 8.6% for temperatures above 1150 K, most likely due to experimental errors in spectroscopy. Analytical heat balance on the sheet, IR imaging, and numerical simulations yield temperatures within 5% of TCRP. This work shows that the TCRP technique can be used for spatially resolved temperature measurements of metals in tube furnaces and can readily be extended to ceramics or other class of solid materials whose emissivity can be shown to be invariant with wavelength in the visible region.

Effect of noise-induced wavelength fluctuation in tunable diode lasers on narrow-linewidth absorption measurements.

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy is being widely used to make sensors for diagnostic purposes in various engineering applications. Since the wavelength of many diode lasers used in such sensors is sensitive to the driving current, even noise as small as a few µArms in the driving current can cause a wavelength fluctuation of ∼±0.5 pm, which is large enough to interfere with sensitive absorption measurements. Although these fluctuations are small, they can cause significant systematic error in measured absorption spectra in applications where the absorption line probed is narrow, as is the case for low-density hypersonic flows. As an example, at a pressure of 300 Pa and 297 K, the error in the full width at half-maximum was ±6.5% in an absorption spectrum obtained using a system based on a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser scanned at 10 kHz. This paper analyzes the effect of such systematic errors on measured temperature and velocity and suggests some remedial measures.

Temperature characterization of a radiating gas layer using digital-single-lens-reflex-camera-based two-color ratio pyrometry.

The two-color ratio pyrometry technique using a digital single-lens reflex camera has been used to measure the time-averaged and path-integrated temperature distribution in the radiating shock layer in a high-enthalpy flow. A 70 mm diameter cylindrical body with a 70 mm long spike was placed in a hypersonic shock tunnel, and the region behind the shock layer was investigated. The systematic error due to contributions from line emissions was corrected by monitoring the emission spectrum from this region using a spectrometer. The relative contributions due to line emissions on R, G, and B channels of the camera were 7.4%, 2.2%, and 0.4%, respectively. The temperature contours obtained clearly distinguished regions of highest temperature. The maximum absolute temperature obtained in the experiment was ∼2920 K±55 K, which was 20% lower than the stagnation temperature. This lower value is expected due to line-of-sight integration, time averaging, and losses in the flow. Strategies to overcome these limitations are also suggested in the paper.

Development of micro-shock wave assisted dry particle and fluid jet delivery system.

Small quantity of energetic material coated on the inner wall of a polymer tube is proposed as a new method to generate micro-shock waves in the laboratory. These micro-shock waves have been harnessed to develop a novel method of delivering dry particle and liquid jet into the target. We have generated micro-shock waves with the help of reactive explosive compound [high melting explosive (octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine) and traces of aluminium] coated polymer tube, utilising ∼9 J of energy. The detonation process is initiated electrically from one end of the tube, while the micro-shock wave followed by the products of detonation escape from the open end of the polymer tube. The energy available at the open end of the polymer tube is used to accelerate tungsten micro-particles coated on the other side of the diaphragm or force a liquid jet out of a small cavity filled with the liquid. The micro-particles deposited on a thin metal diaphragm (typically 100-µm thick) were accelerated to high velocity using micro-shock waves to penetrate the target. Tungsten particles of 0.7 µm diameter have been successfully delivered into agarose gel targets of various strengths (0.6-1.0 %). The device has been tested by delivering micro-particles into potato tuber and Arachis hypogaea Linnaeus (ground nut) stem tissue. Along similar lines, liquid jets of diameter ∼200-250 µm (methylene blue, water and oils) have been successfully delivered into agarose gel targets of various strengths. Successful vaccination against murine salmonellosis was demonstrated as a biological application of this device. The penetration depths achieved in the experimental targets are very encouraging to develop a future device for biological and biomedical applications.

Needleless vaccine delivery using micro-shock waves.

Shock waves are one of the most efficient mechanisms of energy dissipation observed in nature. In this study, utilizing the instantaneous mechanical impulse generated behind a micro-shock wave during a controlled explosion, a novel nonintrusive needleless vaccine delivery system has been developed. It is well-known that antigens in the epidermis are efficiently presented by resident Langerhans cells, eliciting the requisite immune response, making them a good target for vaccine delivery. Unfortunately, needle-free devices for epidermal delivery have inherent problems from the perspective of the safety and comfort of the patient. The penetration depth of less than 100 µm in the skin can elicit higher immune response without any pain. Here we show the efficient utilization of our needleless device (that uses micro-shock waves) for vaccination. The production of liquid jet was confirmed by high-speed microscopy, and the penetration in acrylamide gel and mouse skin was observed by confocal microscopy. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium vaccine strain pmrG-HM-D (DV-STM-07) was delivered using our device in the murine salmonellosis model, and the effectiveness of the delivery system for vaccination was compared with other routes of vaccination. Vaccination using our device elicits better protection and an IgG response even at a lower vaccine dose (10-fold less) compared to other routes of vaccination. We anticipate that our novel method can be utilized for effective, cheap, and safe vaccination in the near future.