What Autoclave Sterilizes

It sterilizes all autoclaved instruments, burs, canal instruments, surgical materials, hand instruments under pressure steam in the autoclave by keeping them in a chemical disinfectant solution against all bacteria and viruses.

Materials and media that do not deteriorate under high temperature, humid environment and pressure can be sterilized in autoclaves. The death of microorganisms is not due to pressure but due to protein denaturation as they are exposed to high heat.

Autoclave devices are often used in fields such as medicine, food, health sector, chemistry, cosmetics and universities. Apart from these areas, it will be possible to observe the use of autoclave devices in many areas.

Autoclave devices, which are frequently used in the production of canned fruits and vegetables, are used throughout the world because it destroys microbes. Autoclave devices are used for steam sterilization. Steam sterilization is one of the important processes used and performed in every laboratory. For this reason, you can witness the use of autoclave devices in many areas.

Autoclave devices perform sterilization for 15 to 20 minutes in a saturated environment with pressurized steam, reaching a temperature of 121 degrees Celsius. The autoclave device was invented by Charles Chamberland in 1879. Today, it is actively used for sterilization purposes.

How Are Plastics Sterilized?
Since autoclave devices are sterilized with high heat, this may not be the case for plastics. So, how are sterilization processes performed in plastics? Sterilization with oxygenated water plasma is suitable for sterilizing all plastics. However, this process is quite expensive and requires a lot of equipment. With the help of high levels of active hydroxy and hydroxyl radicals, it kills microorganisms by sterilizing it at only 45 degrees Celsius in a period of 14 to 80 minutes. It is removed with the help of plasma ventilation.

What should be considered when using an autoclave?
The materials to be sterilized should not be cramped when placing them in the autoclave. Paper surfaces must be in contact with paper, plastic ones with plastic, and cloth surfaces for cloth surfaces. In case of loose placement, the steam settles on the entire surface, ensuring that the sterilization process is carried out in a healthy way. Otherwise, there may be a problem in the sterilization process.