About Cargille MeltmountTM for Microscopy and Optical Coupli
The Cargille MeltmountTM series of mounting media are specially formulated optical-quality thermoplastics for use in microscope slide mounting and in other optical coupling applications
Cargille MeltmountsTM Are:
- Instant – they are thermal mountants and require no “oven time”
- 100% useable – contain no solvents
- Less Expensive per slide
- Reversible – thermally, for particle retrieval or re-orientation
- Soluble – in toluene if needed for special techniques or clean-up
- Fluid – at 65°C – a temperature chosen because it makes a permanent mount and protects the majority of specimens from thermal changes.
- PCB-FREE
- Direct replacements for “older style” media
Meltmount Usage Instructions
Meltmount is a Thermal Plastic Material. This means its viscosity is dependent on temperature (inversely dependent). As the temperature increases the viscosity decreases. There is no sharp melting point. Being thermal plastic, it is capable of “cold flow”. This means the Meltmount, the specimen, the slide, and the cover slip can all move independently of each other given a mix of time, temperature, and lateral pressure or gravity.
Treat slides prepared with Meltmount as the valuable items they are. Instructions for storage of prepared slide:
- Flat, cover slip on top
- In the dark
- Away from dust and fumes
- At 60° to 85°C. Meltmount is meant to be thermally reversible, don’t allow this to happen inadvertently by storing or transporting prepared slide above 35°C.
Cargille QUICK-STICKTM
Cargille Meltmount is now available in a convenient stick form called Quick-Stick. It can be used to make permanent microscope slide mounts quickly.
Quick-Stick can be applied to a slide on a hotplate. As soon as the specimen and cover glass are positioned and the slide is cooled, you have a permanent prepared slide that can be reversed by reheating, if you should wish to retrieve a particular particle.