I have been using a 0.22um filter, however the gel is so viscous that this is a difficult method to use. Are there other methods for 7.5% gelatin hydrogel sterilization? Or perhaps to sterilize the gelatin powder?
To sterilize the gelatin liquor ─ a sol ─ by using a sterilization microfilter, the liquor temperature should usually be kept above around 45 ºC; to keep the liquor viscosity low enough for a manual positive displacement syringe to be employed jointly with the microfilter, without the need for excessive pressure ─ this being the usual approach. Note that the sol-gel transition temperature is possibly close to 40 ºC, or so. As you want to obtain a sterile gel, you should also ensure that the gel forms from the prior sterilized sol in sterile environment, unless you are considering adding preserving compound(s) to the sol (e.g. SO2), or afterwards sterilizing the gel by some compatible technology, such as UV or gamma ray irradiation.
You can also try glow discharge sterilization as long as you use sterile distilled water for preparing the gel. 15 minutes should be sufficient.
As it has been mentioned above, in my opinion Gamma-Ray or UV will be straight forward techniques.
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