The autoclave utilizes the advantage of vaporized hydrogen peroxide—where its gaseous state at room temperature exhibits greater spore-killing efficacy than its liquid state—to release free hydroxyl radicals that attack cellular components, including lipids, proteins, and DNA, thereby achieving complete sterilization.
A sterilizer is a piece of equipment that uses a hydrogen peroxide solution with a concentration of 30%–35% (i.e., hydrogen peroxide) to vaporize this solution into hydrogen peroxide vapor, which is then conveyed through pipelines into a sealed chamber for disinfection and sterilization.