| Abstract: | The performance of a commercial double-propane-jet freezer (Balzers QFD 101) has been assessed, for rapid freezing of fresh tissues in freeze-etch work. Samples of diaphragm muscle and intestinal villi were frozen between copper sheets, with a spacer to give 20–30μm thickness of tissue. Fracture cuts were made with the Balzers BAF 400 freeze-etch microtome within 5–10μm of a freezing face (i.e. a tissue face in contact with the copper sheets of the frozen sandwich). After some modifications to the QFD 101, replicas showing no evidence of ice were obtained of muscle cells, although for intestinal epithelial cells some evidence of ice formation was found. Infiltration with 5% glycerol or dimethylsulphoxide improves the depth of good freezing. Results and problems arising from such infiltration are briefly discussed. |
