[3dem] Ethane - propane mix
William Rice
rice at nysbc.org
Tue May 1 13:02:40 PDT 2012
Dear all,
Have many of you had experience using a mix of 37% ethane / 63% propane
as a cryogen? It has the advantage that it stays liquid at liquid
nitrogen temperature. We had thought it would be easier to handle, but
we found that it seems to leave a thin layer of liquid cryogen on the
surface of the grid. Putting a freshly frozen grid into the microscope
seemed to cause problems with the IGP as this liquid seemed to evaporate
only in the high vacuum of the microscope. Solid ethane frozen on the
grid usually cracks and breaks off or sublimes in the airlock during
pumping before insertion. Has anyone else seen this effect?
Thanks,
Bill
--
William J. Rice, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
New York Structural Biology Center
89 Convent Avenue, NY, NY 10027
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