OSR Bottles & Tubes
Ultracentrifuge manufacturers as a policy do not recommend the use of organic solvents in their instruments and rotors. We at Seton agree with the policy. However, the machine and rotor makers continue to sell machines and rotors knowing that some customers are actually going to do just that, particularly those working in nano particle research. OK, wink, wink, we will sell them, just don’t use them! Seton offers some tube and bottle products that have improved solvent resistance over the standard tubes and bottles. These products are to be used with organic solvents in the centrifuge at your own risk.
OSR THREADED TUBES
These tubes are thick walled Delrin (1) tubes available in several sizes for use in a range of fixed-angle rotors. These tubes are resistant to many organic solvents at ultracentrifugation conditions and have been found to be useful in nano particle research applications. Precision screw threads have been formed on the outside surface of the tube wall and do not interfere with sample loading or retrieval. A one-piece anodized aluminum cap is screwed onto the tube and a Viton (2) (fluoroelastomer) o-ring is encapsulated in a cap recess to provide a reliable seal. The caps have no fill hole and setscrew; tubes are opaque and cannot be punctured or sliced. These tubes must always be used with a cap and must be used full. Deloris tubes should not be autoclaved but can be sterilized by treatment with ethylene oxide gas or by cold methods (3). A gripping tool (PN 4293) is available for assistance in unscrewing the caps after ultracentrifugation and provides maximum leverage without scratching the anodized surface of the cap. A threaded removal tool (PN 4270) is available for extracting the sealed tube assembly from the rotor. See Threaded Polycarbonate Tubes-6 for pictures and descriptions of these tools.
OSR TUBES
These tubes are thick walled Delrin and Kynar (4) (PVDF) tubes available in several sizes for use in a range of Swinging Bucket (SW) rotors. These tubes are resistant to many organic solvents at ultra-centrifugation conditions and have been found to be useful in nano particle research applications. These tubes are used with no caps but must be used full, i.e., the meniscus 2-3mm from the top of the tube. These tubes should not be autoclaved but can be sterilized by treatment with ethylene oxide gas or by cold methods (1).
BOTTLES
These bottles are similar to the Ultra Bottles-5 but all of the components are mades from chemical resistant materials. The bottles are polypropylene and the caps are either aluminum or Delrin. The cap plugs are made of Delrin and the o-rings of Viton. The bottle removal tool (PN 4408) is used to pull the bottle assembly from the rotor. See Ultra Bottles-5 for a picture and description of this tool. Deloris should not be autoclaved but can be sterilized by treatment with ethylene oxide gas or by cold methods (1).
(1) Delrin is a registered trademark of E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.
(2) Viton is a registered trademark trademark of DuPont Performance Elastomers LLC.
(3) Aqueous solutions of 70% ethanol, 70% isopropanol or 10% hydrogen peroxide.
(4) Kynar is a registered trademark of Elf Atochem North America, Inc.