[3dem] Ethane ice on Vitrobot frozen grids
Paul Keller
kellerp at mail.nih.gov
Fri Dec 12 12:27:46 PST 2008
Hello All,
I was wondering if anyone on the list had any insight into something I
observe regularly when using our Vitrobot (Mk II); the formation of a
layer of ethane ice on the grid during transfer from the liquid ethane
cup into the outer ring and grid storage box. The grid cannot then be
used until the ethane ice is removed.
The ethane layer almost always seems to dissipate if I leave the grid
in LN2 storage at least overnight, but this is not always desirable.
Does anyone on the list have any advice for removing the ethane ice
without damaging the underlying sample, or preferably, techniques for
avoiding the formation of an ethane ice layer entirely?
Thank you,
-Paul Keller
Laboratory of Structural Biology Research
NIAMS, NIH
Building 50, Room 1504
50 South Drive MSC 8025
Bethesda, MD 20892-8025
301-451-4939
kellerp at mail.nih.gov
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