I have to prepare biological samples (natural fibrous material like luffa sponge) for SEM analysis to understand the colonization of Methanogenic Archea in biofilms. after fixation in glutaraldehyde followed by dehydration in graded series of ethanol solutions it require to be completely dried by Critical point drying or lyophilization. as i have no facility of these two, is there any alternative or shall i simple dry it in drying oven?
You can use HMDS (solvent) as a final step in dehydration after alcohol instead of CPD. It is sold by most EM suppliers.
Freeze drying is rather bad method of biological specimen preparation, and never use oven for dehydration.
You'll get excellent results with critical point drying (depending on the material). I don't know about 'freeze drying', but if you have access to a SEM with a temperature controlled sample holder, the wet sample can be frozen before it is viewed under vacuum. However, in this case I suggest air drying the material in a well ventilated space.
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