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Context:

• In India, the National Science Day (NSD) is celebrated on February 28 each year to honor the discovery of the 'Raman effect' by Indian physicist Sir C. V. Raman.
• Sir C.V. Raman presented the 'Raman effect' on February 28, 1928, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.

 

Aim:

• To draw awareness to people about the significance of science in our daily life and to encourage people by popularising Science and Technology.

 

National Science Day 2022: Theme:

• The theme of National Science Day 2022 is ‘Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for Sustainable Future’.

 

History of National Science Day:

• In 1986, the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) asked the Indian government to observe February 28 as National Science Day.
• Since then, National Science Day has been celebrated all over India in schools, colleges, universities, and other academic, scientific, technical, medical, and research institutions.

 

Raman Spectroscopy:

• Raman is a light scattering technique, whereby a molecule scatters incident light from a high intensity laser light source.
• Most of the scattered light is at the same wavelength (or color) as ---- this is called Rayleigh Scatter.
• However a small amount of light (typically 0.0000001%) is scattered at different wavelengths (or colors), which depend on the chemical structure of the analyte – this is called Raman Scatter.

Important Applications:

The following are some important areas which use Raman spectroscopy to great effect.

Pharmaceutical Agents and Cosmetic Products

• The distribution of a compound within a tablet
• The concentration of an API(Active Pharmaceutical Agent)
• Testing the content and purity of a powder
• Verifying raw material quality
• Identification of contaminants

Geology and Mineralogy

• Identification of various minerals and precious/semiprecious stones
• Studying the distribution of minerals and phases within a section of rock
• Studying the behavior of minerals under harsh conditions
• Identifying chondrite or achondrite meteorites

Carbon Materials

• Study of single-walled carbon nanotubes.
• Testing hard disk drives
• Detection of defects or disorder in carbon materials
• Testing diamond quality and place of origin
• Measuring the electrical properties and the number of layers of 2D materials like graphene.

Semiconductors

• Assaying the purity
• Analysis of the composition of an alloy
• Identifying contaminants
• Analyzing defects in a structure
• Microanalysis of photoluminescence

 

 

Life Sciences

• Analysis of biocompatibility of a material
• Analysis of nucleic acids
• Study of interactions between drugs and cells
• Diagnosis of disease
• Analysis of individual cells
• Cell sorting applications
• Analyzing the features of biomolecules
• Study of bone structure