1N NaOH solution can be autoclaved? - (May/20/2008 )

I need to prepare 100ml 1N NaOH solution. I dissolved 8 g of NaOH in 100ml of sterilised distilled water. I use this solution to extract the melanin content from the cells by incubating at 80 degree celsius for 1 hr. Do I still need to autoclave the solutions before I use it for my experiment?

---

Nothing can survive 1N NaOH. Sterilization is not required. I've added 1N NaOH I made on the spot using ddH20 to agar to adjust the pH. I never had a problem with contamination. Autoclaving may result in bad things happening. If you must... try filter sterilizing, but check the pH restrictions for the filter as I have never filtered a highly basic solution before.

---

Thanks for your reply. I think I will just use the 1N NaOH solution directly prepared from sterilised distilled water.

---

your NaOH concentration is 2 M. lol

---

and adjust final volume to 100ml, don't just add 100ml.

---

Oops...should be 4 g of NaOH in 100 ml to make 1 M. Thx.

---

If u really want to make ths solution sterile, you can use 0.22um pore size disc filter (Millipore) to filter the solution. By using this method, sterilization can be achieved.

---

I tried filtering 1M NaOH before and... the filter dissolved!!!! so I ended up with a very cloudy solution, and had to do it again. In my opinion if water is sterile that's all you need, as said before nothing survives 1M NaOH... if something grows in, it might be worth studying it!!!

---

Ya....I agree with you. NaOH is a strong alkaline, they shouldn't be any growth inside the solution. Thanks. I prepared it using sterilised distilled water and just keep in room temperature. The solution is clear,no contamination.

---

Which brand of filter did u use?
In general, most of them are okay

---