[XababaX]

Hi everyone,
I am follwing a protocol and having a hard time at a washing step.
My goal is to disperse carbon nanotubes with functionalized tween 20. I have my modified tween 20 and mixed it with nanotubes ultrasonicated in ultrapure water.
The protocol says that the excess tween on the nanotubes was washed with 50 mM sodium borate.

I am having a hard time doing this step because I don't understand the meaning of "wash" in this context (usually I assume its like separation). The sodium borate is an aqueous solution and therefore mixes with the water phase were the nanotube and excess tween 20 molecules are.

Do you know of any other means of washing that would be applicable here?

Thanks!

[Arkcon]

Presumably, you're meant to filter the nanotublues out with something that will retain them, or you'll attach the nanotubules to a substrate and wash the reagents free.  Really depends on where you got the protocol, and what you need the nanotubules for.

[XababaX]

I see! I got the protocol from the experimental section of a paper on "fluorescent labelling of CNTs".
I am using them to them observe them in solution. I was suspecting something like that but got confused by the terms.
Thank you very much, I'll try to find the right filtering substrate and will try!

[Arkcon]

If you're to observe them in solution, maybe you can repeatedly centrifuge, decant, and re-suspend?