Physico-chemical characterization of kajjali, black sulphide of mercury, with respect to the role of sulfur in its formation and structure

Namrata Joshi; Manoj Kumar Dash; Chandan Upadhyay; Vikas Jindal; Pradip Kumar Panda; Manjari Shukla

doi:10.1016/j.jaim.2021.05.006

Physico-chemical characterization of kajjali, black sulphide of mercury, with respect to the role of sulfur in its formation and structure

J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2021 Oct-Dec;12(4):590-600. doi: 10.1016/j.jaim.2021.05.006. Epub 2021 Nov 10.

Authors

Namrata Joshi¹, Manoj Kumar Dash², Chandan Upadhyay³, Vikas Jindal⁴, Pradip Kumar Panda⁵, Manjari Shukla³

Affiliations

¹ Dept. of Rasashastra, Faculty of Ayurveda, IMS, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India.
² Dept. of Rasashastra, Govt. Ayurveda College, Raipur, C.G, India. Electronic address: drmanojkumardash@gmail.com.
³ Materials Science and Technology, School of Materials Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India.
⁴ Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, 221005, India.
⁵ Govt. Ayurveda College, Balangir, Odisha, India.

Abstract

Background: Kajjali is used as a base for Ayurvedic herbo-mineral medicines. It is a combination of mercury with sulfur in varying proportions. The ratio of sulfur (S) added to mercury (Hg) directly relates to the therapeutic efficacy of the compound.

Objective: To analyze the physico-chemical characteristics of samaguna gandhaka kajjali (Hg: S = 1:1) and shadaguna gandhaka kajjali (Hg: S = 1:6).

Materials and methods: X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy, thermo-gravimetry analysis, and atomic absorption spectroscopy were applied to characterize each type of kajjali.

Results: It was found that the particle size of the formed kajjali compound increases with a decrease in the mercury to sulfur ratio. The presence of excess sulfur does not change the surface oxidation states as revealed by the XPS analysis. No trace of mercury has been found in both samaguna gandhaka kajjali (SGK-1) and shadguna gandhaka kajjali (SGK-6), indicating a complete Hg reaction with S.

Conclusion: Kajjali simulates nanomaterial of the modern era and possesses therapeutic efficacy as mentioned in classical Ayurveda texts. Complete trituration of mercury and sulfur combination ends up with this kajjali formation incorporating the potency of nanotherapeutics.

Keywords: Ayurveda; Black sulfide; Kajjali; Nanoparticle; Safety; Sulfur ratio.