How to Make Buffer Pipes

Create buffer pipes when performing plant tissue sample testing.

For animal and plant tissue samples, certain chemicals are used to keep the tissue suspended in liquid for storage and observation. Yet these chemicals can eventually damage the tissue. To prevent this, an acid buffer of pipes, piperazinediethanesulfonic acid, is added to the chemicals. You can create the buffer pipes in your chemistry lab using the appropriate equipment.

Things You'll Need

• Rubber gloves
• Erlenmeyer lab flasks
• Burette
• Probe and meter pH measuring tool
• Chemistry spoon
• Pipes free acid
• Chemical dropper
• De-ionized water purified to 18 milli-Q, 140 milliliters
• Glass stirrer rod
• Sodium Hydroxide, 5 moles

Instructions

1. Slip rubber gloves on to hands. Prepare the lab area by placing the Erlenmeyer lab flask under the burette to catch the chemical drips for mixing. Set the probe and meter tool to test the pH levels of the mixture in hands reach but not in the way where you will occasionally bump into it.

2. Fill a chemical dropper with 140 milliliters of de-ionized water. Add the water to the flask. Spoon 30.2 grams of pipes free acid into the flask. Stir the contents with a glass stirrer rod until the pipes dissolve into a thick liquid.

3. Place 5 moles of solution base sodium hydroxide in the burette. Put 5 more moles of sodium hydroxide to the spoon. Pour the spoonful entirely into the flask. Measure the amount of pH in the flask using the probe and meter tool until it reaches 6 pH.

4. Twist the stopcock on the burette to allow 10 microliters of sodium hydroxide to drip into the flask. Wait for the solution to mix as it stabilizes. Measure the amount of pH. Continue adding sodium hydroxide and pipes free acid until the mixture reaches 6.5 pH.

5. Pour mixture into a container bottle properly labeled. Store mixture at room temperature.

Tips & Warnings

• Sodium hydroxide is extremely caustic. It can severely burn skin on contact. Always wear rubber gloves, protective clothing and eye wear when working with this chemical.

References

• Sigma-Aldrich Company: Pipes Buffer Product Information
• John Hopkins Medicine: Chemical Buffer Recipes
• State Of Washington Department of Ecology: Chapter 4 - From the Field to the Lab