We present the application of ionic liquid-aqueous micellar solutions as isolation media for the pharmaceutically active ingredient piperine from black pepper. Several surface-active ionic liquids including a biodegradable betaine derivative were used for the extraction of piperine, and a strong correlation between extraction yield and the critical micelle concentration of the respective ionic liquid was found. A scaled strategy for the isolation of piperine was developed that allowed recovery and recycling of the aqueous ionic liquid micellar solution for five runs without any loss in extraction efficiency.

We have grown $$^{232}$$ 232 Th:CaF$$_2$$ 2 and $$^{229}$$ 229 Th:CaF$$_2$$ 2 single crystals for investigations on the VUV laser-accessible first nuclear excited state of $$^{229}$$ 229 Th, with the aim of building a solid-state nuclear clock. To reach high doping concentrations despite the extreme scarcity (and radioactivity) of $$^{229}$$ 229 Th, we have scaled down the crystal volume by a factor 100 compared to established commercial or scientific growth processes. We use the vertical gradient freeze method on 3.2 mm diameter seed single crystals with a 2 mm drilled pocket, filled with a co-precipitated CaF$$_2$$ 2 :ThF$$_4$$ 4 :PbF$$_2$$ 2 powder in order to grow single crystals. Concentrations of $$4\cdot 10^{19}$$ 4 · 10 19  cm$$^{-3}$$ - 3 have been realized with $$^{232}$$ 232 Th with good (> 10%) VUV transmission. However, the intrinsic radioactivity of $$^{229}$$ 229 Th drives radio-induced dissociation during growth and radiation damage after solidification. Both lead to a degradation of VUV transmission, currently limiting the $$^{229}$$ 229 Th concentration to $$<5\times 10^{17}$$ < 5 × 10 17  cm$$^{-3}$$ - 3 .