Abcam's Vanadium Negative Stain (ab172780) is a negative stain for electron microscopy specially tailored for use with gold nanoparticles antibody conjugates, not available elsewhere. It is based on vanadium, which has a lower atomic number (23) than other elements commonly used as negative stain reagents such as uranium (92), tungsten (74) or lead (82). ab172780 is recommended for visualization of all samples labeled with gold nanoparticles, and may be used in other applications where a relatively light stain is required. It produces a light, uniform negative stain. Vanadium Negative Stain is stable, non-volatile in the beam and will not denature protein samples.

Instructions for Use
Gold particle labeling, washing and postfixing (if required) should be completed as directed in the instructions supplied with the appropriate product, and the specimen rinsed thoroughly with deionized water.
ab172780 is supplied ready-to-use, as a 2% solution in water at pH 8.0. It is recommended that this product not be used at pH values lower than 7 since precipitation may occur. Apply a few drops, sufficient to wet the specimen completely, then wick to remove the excess and observe as usual.

For use with ab170732 – Silver Enhancer kit (High Quality) and ab170733 – Silver Enhancer kit (Light Insensitive)