Tween 20



Tween (full name Tween 20 or Polysorbate 20) is a common detergent used in biology used in cell lysis and membrane protein solubilisation among other uses.

Storage/Stability

 * 2 years shelf life according to this chemicals manufacturer
 * 2 years for 20x Tris-buffered saline/Tween20 according to this data sheet

Based on the SIGMA Tween20 data sheet
 * aqueous solutions of polysorbates undergo autoxidation during storage, with changes being catalyzed by light, increased temperature, and copper sulfate
 * autoclaving is not recommended without testing for changes in properties; TWEEN 20 may not be stable to autoclaving, particularly with metal cations in buffer solutions.
 * TWEEN 20 is heat sensitive and will darken when exposed to elevated temperatures
 * polysorbates have been reported to be incompatible with alkalis, heavy metal salts, phenols, and tannic acid
 * polysorbates may reduce the activity of many preservatives
 * no plastic incompatabilities have been observed

Comments

 * "I've recently been doing a series of experiments comparing the sensitivity of various ELISA protocols. One thing I have noticed, which is slightly annoying, is that on opening a new tin of skimmed milk (Marvel) and a new bottle of tween-20 (BDH) there are big reductions in the background . OK, so this may have been expected, but not to the extent that I have noticed. Both of the 'old' reagents had probably been opened less than 6 months ago."