Epon-Maraglas Embedment for Electron Microscopy

Abstract

There can be little doubt that Epon (Luft 1961) is currently the most widely used embedding medium for electron microscopy. While for the most part this embedding material is reliable, it has the disquieting tendency to fail occasionally to polymerize properly for no apparent reason. to counter this problem, several investigators have proposed that epoxide-anhydride ratios be taken into account to arrive at the best balance of ingredients for the final embedding medium (Coulter 1967, Burke and Geiselman 1971, Chang 1973). in an alternative solution, Mollenhauer (1964) suggested that the Epon be mixed with Araldite, and indeed, this combination has achieved some popularity. Epon-Araldite mixtures, however, have a relatively high viscosity in the unpolymerized state; this may slow permeation of tissue specimens.