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New application of air‐drying techniques for studying Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera eggs by scanning electron microscopy
Author(s) -
UberoPascal Nicolás,
Fortuño José Manuel,
de Los Ángeles Puig María
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
microscopy research and technique
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1097-0029
pISSN - 1059-910X
DOI - 10.1002/jemt.20248
Subject(s) - tetramethylsilane , scanning electron microscope , materials science , critical point (mathematics) , nanotechnology , chemistry , composite material , mathematics , organic chemistry , mathematical analysis
Hexamethyldisilizane (HMDS) and tetramethylsilane are organic compounds that are volatile at ambient temperature and which can therefore be used for air‐drying biological samples for SEM studies. The techniques using these compounds provide results that are comparable with those obtained by critical point drying, but which involve a very simple process that saves time and money. Both techniques were applied to SEM studies of Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera eggs in order to assess their suitability as alternative methods to critical point drying for these kinds of biological material. The results show no morphological differences between eggs HMDS air‐dried and critical point‐dried. Microsc. Res. Tech. 68:264–271, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.