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Recovery of Osmium Tetroxide From Used Fixative Solutions
Author(s) -
Kiernan J. A.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1978.tb00096.x
Subject(s) - osmium tetroxide , osmium , oxidizing agent , aqueous solution , chemistry , aqueous suspension , reagent , glutaraldehyde , fixative , chromatography , nuclear chemistry , inorganic chemistry , electron microscope , organic chemistry , catalysis , biochemistry , cytoplasm , ruthenium , optics , physics
SUMMARY A technique has been developed whereby osmium tetroxide (O S O 4 ) is reclaimed from solutions used as fixatives in electron microscopy. The osmium compounds in the collected residues are oxidized to O S O 4 , which is then extracted into carbon tetrachloride. Osmium dioxide is precipitated with alcohol, recovered by filtration and dried. This is a safe and convenient form in which to store the reclaimed material. An aqueous solution of O S O 4 is prepared by oxidizing an aqueous suspension of osmium dioxide with hydrogen peroxide. The reclaimed product has been used for post‐fixation of aldehyde‐fixed specimens for transmission and scanning electron microscopy and for histochemical procedures in light microscopy. It is evidently just as satisfactory for these purposes as the newly bought substance. The equipment and reagents required for the reclamation procedure are readily available and inexpensive. 5 g can be recovered for the cost of less than 150 mg of new osmium tetroxide.