According to Äkta/GE Manuals, a Ethanol 20% solution is the recommended one for the storage of Äkta Columns. Nevertheless, unfortunately I am not allowed to use that solution for the aforementioned purpose in the laboratory where I work. Because of that, I would like to know if there are other options that could be used in this case.
I thank you in advance.
In our lab we use the column almost every other day hence it is stored in standard Good's buffer (Tris/HEPES) having 150 mM NaCl. During long holidays we ensure that this storage buffers contain 0.01% sodium azide (to avoid microbial growth). Company people recommend storing columns regularly in 20% ethanol but that might lead to shortening in life span of the column matrix. Further it also seems to lead to more bubble formation in the matrix which is detrimental to column health. However during periodic cleaning of the column it gets "washed" with 0.5M NaOH followed by 20% Ethanol, and immediately replaced with working buffer.
Thank you so much for your reply. I also found out that is possible to use a 2% benzyl alcohol solution as a storing solution.
All the best!!
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