Plastic Labware and Glass Labware

Plastic labware and glass labware are made of glass or plastic and intended for laboratory use. Type, volume and material of construction are the most important specifications to consider. There are many different types of plastic labware and glass labware. Choices include adapters, beakers, boiling flasks, bottles, burettes, columns, condensers, cuvettes, cylinders, Erlenmeyer flasks, funnels, joints, Petri dishes, reaction vessels, separator funnels, stirring rods, stoppers, test tubes, and volumetric flasks. This product area also includes watch glasses, devices which can be used for a variety of purposes and which include concave “dishes” that can be used as beaker lids. Watch glasses can also be used to hold protists and other invertebrates for viewing under a microscope, or to dissolve materials such as crystals and powders. 

Adapters, beakers, boiling flasks, bottles, burrettes, columns, condensers, and cylinders are common types of plastic labware and glass labware. Adapters are used to join parts with different diameters. Beakers are unrestricted or simple, restricted vessels with high height-to-orifice diameter ratios. Boiling flasks are used to distill liquids. A Claisen flask is a type of boiling flask. Bottles are rigid or semi-rigid containers, typically made of glass or plastic, which have a comparatively narrow neck or mouth and usually no handle. Burettes are graduated glass tubes with a small aperture and stopcock for delivering measured quantities of liquid, or for measuring a liquid or gas received or discharged. Columns are tubes or cylinders in which chromatographic separation takes place. Condensers are devices in which a gas or vapor is condensed. Cylinders are tall narrow containers with a volume scale. This plastic labware and glass labware is used for measuring liquids.

Erlenmeyer flasks, funnels, joints, Petri dishes, reaction vessels, separator funnels, stirring rods, stoppers, test tubes, volumetric flasks, and watch glasses are additional types of plastic labware and glass labware. Erlenmeyer flasks are flat-bottomed, conical, laboratory flasks. Funnels are utensils which usually consist of a hollow cone with a tube extending from the smaller end. They are designed to catch and direct a downward flow. Joints are used to join two pieces of tubing. Petri dishes are small, shallow dishes with a loose cover. They are made of thin glass or plastic and used for cultures in bacteriology. Reaction vessels are used to contain a chemical transformation. Separatory funnels are used in the separation of media. Stirring rods are pieces of hollow or solid glass tubing. They are used to stir materials, or to spread media on a Petri dish. Stoppers are used to plug labware openings. Test tubes are plain or lipped tubes, usually made of thin glass and closed at one end, that are used in chemistry and biology. Volumetric flasks are plastic labware and glass labware that is used to prepare solutions of fixed volume. 

The functionality of plastic labware and glass labware depends upon materials of construction, especially with regard to thermal stability. Plastic labware is often made of ethylene propylene (EPDM), fluoroelastomer, neoprene, nitrile, nylon, polyethylene (PE), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polypropylene (PP), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). Glass labware is usually made of  fused silica, borosilicate, quartz, Kimax^® (Kimble Glass Company), Pyrex^® (Corning Glass Works), or Zerodur^® (Schott Glass Technologies). Plastic labware and glass labware made from other unlisted, specialized, or proprietary materials is also available.

Pages: 1 - 3 of 226