Growth of lithium silicate crystals inside porous silicon film and their exploitation for ozone detection

Silicon dioxide was formed by oxidizing porous silicon film and annealed, in a next step, at 920 °C with lithium nitrate embedded in its structure. These operations have produced the two lithium silicates, Li₂Si₂O₅ and Li₂SiO₃, as it has been confirmed by the X-ray diffraction measurements. At relative high temperature (230 °C), the experimental ionic conductivity of this achieved sample has doubled in presence of ozone flow. A comparison with other samples, prepared with varieties of metallic nitrates and by following the same experimental procedures as for the former one, has proved that the sample prepared with zirconium was also good for ozone detection.     

Zigzag wall dynamics in uniaxial in-plane magnetic thin films

An unusual right/left zigzag wall propagation in the bias (transverse) and ac fields applied simultaneously is observed. A dynamic model based on the variable coercivity, effective transverse field, transformation of the walls from asymmetric Bloch into asymmetric Néel type (and vice versa) is proposed. Degeneration of two segments of one “zig” (or “zag”) which “sense” differently the transverse field is one of the crucial point of the zigzag dynamics.     

Gradient elution method in centrifugal partition chromatography for the separation of a complex sophorolipid mixture obtained from Candida bombicola yeasts

Sophorolipids represent an important class of natural surfactants with a variety of environmental, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical applications. Despite their promising physicochemical and biological properties, the use of sophorolipids is hampered by the lack of information regarding their individual structure‐activity relationships. The major difficulty in isolating pure sophorolipids arises from the high complexity of crude fermentation media composition and from their strong structural similarities. In this work, a centrifugal partition chromatography method was developed in an original gradient elution mode for the separation of sophorolipids produced by the yeast Candida bombicola. Experiments were realized by using three sets of solvent systems composed of n‐heptane, ethyl acetate, n‐butanol, methanol, and water in different proportions. The separation was performed at 5 mL/min in the ascending mode by increasing progressively the polarity of the organic mobile phase. In these conditions, more than 80% of the sophorolipids present in the initial crude fermentation extract were eluted successively from the most hydrophobic lactone forms to the most hydrophilic acid forms. The structures of the isolated sophorolipids were further elucidated by HPLC and NMR analyses.     

On‐Line Radical Scavenging Detection and Characterization of Antioxidants from Artemisia herba‐alba

Four caffeoylquinic acid (CQA) derivatives, 5‐O‐caffeoylquinic acid ( 1 ), 3,5‐di‐O‐caffeoylquinic acid ( 3 ), 4,5‐di‐O‐caffeoylquinic acid ( 4 ), and 3,4,5‐tri‐O‐caffeoylquinic acid ( 5 ), have been isolated from Artemisia herba‐alba growing wild in Algeria, using the on‐line HPLC? DAD? DPPH radical‐scavenging detection technique as guidance. In the course of the purification work, the non‐frequent (E)‐2‐(β‐D ‐glucopyranosyloxy)‐4‐methoxycinnamic acid ( 2 ) has also been isolated. The CQAs showed fair‐to‐good antioxidant activities determined by the DPPH^. scavenging assay. The structures of the five isolated compounds were determined by spectroscopic methods. The on‐line HPLC? DAD? DPPH technique allowed for a rapid pinpointing of antioxidants in the studied plant, accomplishing the facile guided isolation of the target molecules. Algerian A. herba‐alba could be an interesting source of natural antioxidants that deserve further work.