The pipette tips are one of the necessities in laboratories all over the world. They are used together with pipettes to deliver small volumes of liquids and hence are applied widely in scientific research, clinical diagnostics, and other industries. This article aims to explain what pipette tips are, the types available, the materials used in making them, and why they are important in labs.
Pipette tips are small, cone-shaped accessories that screw onto the end of a pipette and are used only once. It is used to prepare and dispense measured volumes of liquids with high accuracy in several experimental processes. Pipette tips ensure that there is no inter-mingling of samples and also shield the pipette from any harm that could be occasioned by contact with the samples.
Pipette tip help to ensure that liquid handling operations are accurate and precise. For most laboratory procedures, small errors are often amplified resulting in large errors in data and results. Pipette tips allow scientists and technicians to dispense and aspirate small volumes of liquid with accuracy this is especially important in molecular biology, chemistry, and clinical laboratories.
Pipette tips are available in different varieties depending on their use and the requirements of the laboratory. The pipette tips used vary with the volume of the liquid to be transferred, the type of liquid, and the nature of the experiment.
Standard Pipette Tips
They are mainly produced from polypropylene and can be used in most applications. These tips are available in different sizes to be able to handle different volumes of the sample starting from microliters to milliliters. Standard tips are suitable for everyday liquid transfers and are recommended for everyday use.
Filter pipette tips have a small filter located at the narrow part of the tip to help minimize the entry of aerosols and liquid contaminants into the pipette. This feature is very useful especially in handling flammable or toxic materials since it reduces contamination between the material and the user as well as the equipment.
Non-reusable pipette tips are coated to reduce the ability of the liquid to stick to the walls of the tip. This ensures that the maximum amount of the liquid sample is dispensed depending on the amount that is required in an experiment. These tips are most often employed in applications that deal with highly viscous fluids or low volumes of fluids where the smallest residual volume can be a substantial source of error.
Pipette tips are available in different material types and these are the main aspects that define the performance and compatibility of the pipette tips with different applications. Polypropylene is used most frequently for pipette tips because it is a thermoplastic that exhibits great chemical and physical strength.
Polypropylene (PP)
Polypropylene is the best material for pipette tips because of the following reasons. It is chemically inactive, which implies that it cannot interact with most chemicals; this is important when handling samples. Polypropylene is also not soluble in any acids, bases, or organic solvents hence making it suitable for use in different laboratory conditions.
Other Materials and Additives
Sometimes pipette tip can be made of or coated with some extra material to improve their characteristics. For instance, low retention tips may be coated with a hydrophobic layer to minimize the amount of liquid that it can hold. Filtered tips may also feature a mesh of polyethylene or another material that would be inert to the sample to capture aerosols and other contaminants.
Some of the roles of pipette tips include: The major role of pipette tips is to avoid contamination of one sample with another. In most experiments, any impurities, no matter how small, could have a detrimental effect on the outcome of an experiment. By employing disposable pipette tips, the scientists are in a position to avoid contact between different samples hence reducing the chances of contamination of the samples.
It is therefore very important to choose the right pipette tip to avoid getting wrong results in the laboratory. It depends on the amount of the liquid to be transferred, the type of the liquid, and the nature of the experiment that is being conducted.
Consider the Volume Range
Pipette tips are categorized by the volume to which they are capable of pipetting. This is why it is advisable to ensure that you select a given tip depending on the amount of liquid that is to be transferred. Applying a tip that is too big or too small for the volume to be measured and dispensed in can cause errors in the measurement.
Evaluate the Requirement of Special Facilities
Sometimes, the tips used in pipettes have to be equipped with additional features such as low retention or filters depending on the application. For instance, if you are dealing with high-viscosity fluids, then low-retention tips will assist you in dispensing the entire quantity of the sample. If you are working with dangerous chemicals, filtered tips will be of additional help to you.
To improve the precision and reproducibility of your data, it is necessary to adhere to proper pipetting techniques when using pipette tip.
Proper Pipette Tip Attachment
Make sure that the pipette tip is well fitted on the pipette before use. An improperly fitted tip or a loose one can cause air leaks and, therefore, wrong measurement. Almost all pipettes have a feature that enables you to lock the tips in place and remove them without actually touching the tips.
Avoiding Contamination
This is because once the pipette tip comes into contact with a sample it is contaminated and should not be used on another sample. It is also important not to touch the tip on any surface or any other object as this will contaminate it. While using multiple samples, make sure to use a standard method to make sure that the results are comparable.
Correct Pipetting Technique
When pipetting, one should pull the liquid gently and steadily to ensure that no air bubbles are formed since they will distort the measurements. While dispensing, ensure that the tip is touching the receiving vessel and dispense the liquid gently so as not to spill on the vessel.
Pipette tips are one of the basic laboratory consumables that are very vital in influencing the efficiency of liquid transfer operations. Regardless of whether you are working in a research laboratory or a clinic, it is essential to know the variety of pipette tips and their use to select the most suitable tool. Therefore, when choosing the pipette tip and adhering to the guidelines mentioned above, one can obtain accurate and consistent results in experiments.
Polypropylene is utilized for the fabrication of pipette tips due to its chemical inactivity, insolubility, and high strength. It is non-reactive with most of the substances thus giving way for the sample integrity; it can also be autoclaved for sterilization.
Standard pipette tips are ideal for routine use when transferring liquids while low-retention pipette tips are coated to reduce the amount of liquid that sticks to the tips to allow the transfer of almost the entire sample. It can be noted that low-retention tips are suitable for use with highly accurate measurements and thick fluids.
Filter tips have a small filter that prevents aerosols and liquid particles from penetrating the pipette and thus avoids cross-contamination of samples as well as protecting the pipette from damage.
