What I did:
washed with water a couple of times to remove remaining fixative, and dumped it into a few liters of bleach.
The gelatin started to dissolve quickly, giving a suspension of white particles, which slowly turned grey. However, halfway through, the processed
slowed to a halt. I ran out of bleach and decided to add solid NaOH, hoping that the gelatine would hydrolyze in the alkaline environment.
Then, to my surprise, the solution immediately turned rust-brown. However, it remainined clear. No brown particles in suspension. I can't see any
white particles either anymore, but I may be missing them due to the intense color. The solution is exactly the color of very strong black tea.
If I take a bit of this brown solution and add a excess of HCl, I get an immediate foggy precipitate, and the solution becomes colorless slowly over
the course of an hour or so. If take a bit of the brown solution, and add a piece of copper wire it gets plated with silver. |