Context:
The Department of Atomic Energy inaugurated an indigenous plant at HWBF (Heavy Water Board Facilities) Vadodara, for producing specialised deuterated compounds. These compounds are important for scientific research, strategic technologies and India’s nuclear self-reliance.
Explanation:
- Deuterated compounds are chemical compounds in which normal hydrogen atoms are partly or fully replaced by deuterium.
- Deuterium is a stable isotope of hydrogen; it has one proton and one neutron, unlike ordinary hydrogen, which has only one proton.
- Example: normal water is H₂O, while heavy water is D₂O, where hydrogen is replaced by deuterium.
- Deuterated compounds are useful because deuterium changes the physical and chemical behaviour of a molecule without making it radioactive.
- They are widely used in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy (a laboratory technique used to determine the structure, composition and arrangement of atoms in a molecule), chemical research, pharmaceuticals, tracer studies and advanced materials research.
- Deuterated solvents help scientists study molecular structure because they do not interfere much with hydrogen signals in laboratory analysis.
- In nuclear technology, deuterium-related materials are important for heavy water production, reactor research and strategic applications.
- Indigenous production reduces import dependence and supports AtmaNirbhar Bharat, frontier technologies and India’s three-stage nuclear power programme.
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