Best way to clean cuvettes?

[Cornelius Krasel]

Matthew Parker (parker at topaz.microbio.uab.edu) wrote:
> Hi, folks! Does anybody have any suggestions about a good way to clean
> proteins out of quartz cuvettes? I have used concentrated nitric acid in
> the past, and also 3M HCl/50% ethanol (which doesn't seem to work as
> well, at least in my experience). Is there anything else that works well
> (say, 50% nitric)?

A mixture of potassium chromate and 100% sulfuric acid is the traditional
way. Unfortunately, it's (at least in Germany) almost impossible to get rid
of the stuff. You may also try Hellmanex, a detergent sold by Hellma
especially for this purpose (some people claim it's even better than
the "traditional approach", and it's certainly more friendly to your
environment).

--Cornelius.

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/* Cornelius Krasel, U Wuerzburg, Dept. of Pharmacology, Versbacher Str. 9 */
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