Choose the Best Lab Storage for Your Applications

Are you using a variety of lab bottles? It’s effortless to grab the bottle from the shelf without giving it a second thought. But, a lab bottle is not just a bottle.

Are you certain that you have selected the most suitable type of container for your intended purpose? Bottles provide versatile options that can be utilized for the handling, transformation, and storage of both liquids and solids. Available in a variety of sizes and shapes, they can be constructed from either plastic or glass materials.

Selection goes beyond deciding glass versus plastic lab bottles

You’ve decided on using plastic lab bottles over glass but that’s not the end of your decision.

Selecting the appropriate bottle involves more than just choosing its size, shape, and color. It’s also crucial to consider the type of plastic material that will be used, as the performance of the bottle can be impacted by factors such as temperature and chemical exposure.

Variables to consider when choosing lab bottles

In the interest of saving time, it can be tempting to simply grab the nearest bottle on the shelf. However, before making a selection, it’s crucial to ask yourself several important questions regarding your lab bottles.

1. What chemicals will the bottles come in contact with?

2. What shape of bottle suits your application?
3. Do you need bottles to withstand extreme temperatures and resistance or do you need bottles for low temperature long term storage?
4. What kind of Transparency and Translucency should your bottle have?
5. Do you need bottles that take care of your light sensitive samples?

Temperature considerations

Will you be exposing your bottles to a hot or cold environment? Temperatures can also affect your bottles. Bottles may need to withstand extreme temperatures such as autoclaving for sterilization as well as freezing temperatures for long-term storage. Take a look to how different bottle materials withstand a wide temperature range:

• Polypropylene (PP) Temp range 0°C to 135°C
• High-density polyethylene (HDPE) Temp range -100°C to 120°C
• Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) Temp range -100°C to 80°C
• Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Temp range -70°C to 60°C
• Polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) Temp range -70°C to 60°C

Chemical compatibility for plastic lab bottles

Selecting an appropriate bottle could potentially create a safety hazard. Place the wrong chemical in the wrong type of bottle material, and the chemical could eat right through the material. Preventing chemicals from spilling onto the floor, or even worse, onto your lap, is essential.

• Polypropylene (PP) – Offers good resistance to non-oxidizing acids and bases, fats and most organic solvent
• High-density polyethylene (HDPE) and Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)- Compatible with most chemicals and are resistant to strong acids and bases, as well as gentle oxidants and reducing agents
• Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – Compatible with Aldehydes, Amines, Ketones, Detergents/surfactants, Oils/Lubricants, Silicons
• Polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) – Compatible to weak or diluted acids, bases and alcohols

Utilize this convenient chart to assist you in identifying the suitable material for the bottle required for your application.

Plastic Materials Overview:

Amber versus Transparent

In certain procedures, it is crucial to determine whether to utilize a transparent or amber media bottle. Amber bottles are necessary to safeguard light-sensitive substances from natural, infrared, or ultraviolet light, which can cause their degradation. Solutions like organic solvents should be stored in amber glass. Transparent media bottles are a popular choice for storing non-volatile chemical compounds that are not sensitive to light.

Square versus Round Bottles

When it comes to autoclaving processes, square media bottles are frequently utilized due to their ability to be densely packed into autoclaves for maximum space utilization and efficiency. Micro labs, which must process samples quickly as various  steps in the process are time-sensitive, often need to produce substantial quantities of media and agar on a regular basis; they find that racks of square bottles are much more manageable and practical for this purpose.

Square media bottles are also commonly used to store solid chemicals in their granular form. In analytical laboratories, round media bottles are more commonly used. The reason behind using a rounded container instead of a square one is that it facilitates the mixing and stirring of solutions. In these laboratories it is important to ensure solutions are effectively mixed to form homogeneous solutions.

Wide Mouth versus Narrow Mouth

Certain laboratory procedures can be simplified by utilizing a wide-mouth bottle as opposed to a narrow-mouth one. If it is a medium bottle that contains granular solids, it is easier to scoop the chemical out for weighing when the mouth is wide. A narrow mouth bottle can be useful when pipetting solutions into a media bottle. The bottle’s shoulders are designed with a steeper slope to facilitate the effective mixing of any added chemicals with the solution inside the container.

CONCLUSION

Accumax Media bottles and Reagent bottles are manufactured in 100K clean room facility from premium grade material with low leachable and extractable materials. 

Original Source: https://accumaximum.com/blogs/choose-the-best-lab-storage-bottles-for-your-applications/