Low temperature heat capacity and thermal stability of nanocrystalline nickel

The heat capacity (C-p) of nanocrystalline nickel (nc-Ni, 40 mn crystallite size) has been measured over the temperature range of 78-370 K with a high-resolution automated adiabatic calorimeter. The measured results are compared with the C-p values of the corresponding coarse-grained crystal, and an enhancement of heat capacity of the nanocrystalline nickel was observed to be 2-4% in the temperature range between 100 and 370 K. The thermal stability of the nanocrystalline nickel sample was determined by a differential scanning calorimeter and a thermogravimetric system. The melting point of nc-Ni is the same as that of the corresponding coarse-grained crystalline nickel and the sample is stable at temperature lower than 500 K. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Antioxidant capacity and lipophilic content of seaweeds collected from the Qingdao coastline

Lipophilic extracts from 16 species of seaweeds collected along the Qingdao coastline were screened and evaluated for their antioxidant activities (AA) using the beta-carotene-linoleate assay system. The diethyl ether soluble extracts of all selected seaweeds exhibited various degrees of antioxidative efficacy in each screen. The highest antioxidant capacities among the tested samples were observed for Rhodomela confervoides and Symphyocladia latiuscula and were comparable with that of the well-known antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene and greater than that of propyl gallate. The lipophilic content of all 16 samples and the chemical composition of 4 selected seaweeds, R. confervoides and S. latiuscula, which had higher AA, Laminaria japonica, which had intermediate AA, and Plocamium telfairiae, which had lower AA, were analyzed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, respectively. Fatty acids and alkanes were found. The present data indicated an increase in antioxidative property with increasing content of unsaturated fatty acid. The result of this study suggests that seaweeds can be considered as a potential source for the extraction of lipophilic antioxidants, which might be used as dietary supplements or in production in the food industry. This is the first report on the antioxidant activities of lipophilic extracts from seaweeds.