Glycol Methacylate Embedding for Materials Samples

TechnovitGlycolMethacrylate:TechnicalInformationandHelpFromHeraeusKulzer.

Embeddinginaplasticoftensuppliesthesupportnecessarytosuccessfullysectionvariousmaterialssamples,especiallyporousandinhomogeoussamples.GMAhasbeenusedtoembedandsectionpolymerresins,multilayerfoilsandfilms,paper,textilesandcoatingsinadditiontoawidevarietyofBIOLOGicalmaterial.TheABIlityofthislowviscosityresintoinfiltrateeffectivelycanmakesectioningnon-biologicalsamplesfastandeconomical.

Preparationofthistypeofsampleisslightlydifferentthanpreparingbiologicalsamples.

Procedure:

Afixationstepis,ofcourse,notnecessaryformaterialssamples.

DehydrationforGMAembedmentsdoesnothavetobecompletebecauseofGMA"smiscibilityinwater.Onlyifthesampleissaturatedwithwatershouldascheduleofincreasingalcoholconcentrationbeused.Thiswilldisplacemostofthewaterwithasolventthatcanbereplacedwithplastic.Usescheduleasfollows:

• 70%ethanolfor10minutes.
• 96%ethanolfor10minutes.
• 96%ethanolfor10minutes.
• absoluteethanolfor10minutes.

Infiltrationdisplacesthedehydrationsolventwithmonomerpriortobeginningthepolymerizationreaction.Ifyouhaveaporoussample,infiltrationmaybeneeded.Nonporoussamplescanskipthisstep.Makeupyourinfiltratingsolutionaccordingtothedirectionsfromyourkit.ForreusableTeflon®moldsformoreeffectiveheatremovalareavailablefromDDK.Whilecompleteeliminationofairisnotneeded,sealingthemoldswithparaffinorplasticwrapisoftendone.Leavethesamplesatroomtemperaturefor1hourthenat37°Cforonehourtocompletepolymerization.

Ifyourembedmentscannotbemounteddirectlytothemicrotome,anadaptermustbeattached.PlacethesuitableTechnovit3040isaninexpensivemediapreparedbymixing3partsofthedrycomponentto1partoftheliquidcomponent.Pouritintotheadapterandpolymerizationwillbecompletewithin10minutes.TheadapterswillbefirmlyattachedthroughacopolymerizationoftheTechnovit3040withtheGMA.

Youarenowreadytobeginsectioningwithglass.