5 kinds of materials for commonly used laboratory plastic consumables

5 kinds of materials for commonly used laboratory plastic consumables

How much do you know about the common plastic consumables in the laboratory?

Laboratory consumables, which are widely consumed during experiments, are various and are divided into three main categories: glassy, plastic and metallic, according to which plastics have been widely used because of their excellent properties and convenience molding. Common materials include the following categories:

1.  PE (polyethylene)

Opaque, tough, resistant to aging, light weight, non leakage, soft texture, and unreactive such as acetone, acetic acid, and hydrochloric acid, are relatively stable and easily soft at high temperatures.

Consumables of commonly used PE materials are:   Reagent Bottles，Pasteur Pipettes，Wired sampling bag，Blender bag，Autoclavable medical waste bag…

2. FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene copolymer)

Transparent heat resistance is slightly lower and can work at – 85 ℃~+ 205 ℃ for long periods and at – 200 ℃~ + 300 ℃ for short periods; The impact strength is high, creep resistance, crystallinity varies with heat treatment temperature, and molding processability is good; Non-toxic, non viscous, electrically insulating, abrasion resistant, chemically stable; Colourable, waste recyclable.

Common consumables of FEP material are: separatory funnels, Erlenmeyer flasks, high-speed centrifuge tubes.

3. PS (polystyrene) 

Transparent, hard with glass conversion temperatures above 100 ° C, stable to most aqueous solutions, but corroded by a wide range of organics.

  Most of consumables of cell culture use PS as material, such as:  Cell culture dishes, Petri dishes, Cell culture flasks, Cell culture plates, Elisa plates, Inoculation loops, Cell spreader, Serological pipettes…

4.PC (polycarbonate)

It has high strength and elasticity coefficient, high impact strength, better transparency, large hardness and can be disinfected at high temperature, but does not tolerate strong acid bases as well as some organic solvents such as alcohol.

Consumables of  PC materials:

Erlenmeyer Flasks, Cryogenic storage box

5. PP (polypropylene)

Translucency, better chemical and temperature stability, and greater hardness in hands than PE, which can be used at about 100 degrees, but at low temperatures becomes brittle, wearless, aged easily, corrosion resistant, and common acid and alkali organic solvents have little effect on it.

Consumables of  PC materials:

Centrifuge tubes, Cryogenic tubes, Micro tubes( Sample collection tube), PCR tubes,PCR plates,Deep well plates,Tip combs, Pipette tips, Reagent bottles, Extraction tubes…

Labio’s PP line and PS line are commercially available in a large variety, stable and reliable quality, all raw materials are supplied in full with imported medical grade raw materials, which guarantee good physicochemical properties of the products, and, consistently, a source of satisfactory products and services for buyers and friends of intermediaries from around the world.

Above are common laboratory supplies materials, with the increase of people’s awareness of self-protection, brittle glass supplies are gradually replaced by plastic materials, becoming the common material used in consumables.