There are a variety of plastic consumables in the laboratory, and there are many types of plastic materials. Different plastics have their own characteristics, and their physical and chemical properties vary greatly. Therefore, the selection of product materials is particularly important. What are the types of plastics used by laboratory manufacturers and what are the differences?
Polyolefins
Polyethylene (PE):
Polyethylene belongs to the category of polyolefins, which are high molecular weight hydrocarbons. Classification can be further divided into low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, etc. This classification is determined by the degree of branching of the molecular structure of polyethylene. High density polyethylene (HDPE) has the lowest branching degree, a robust structure, lower transparency, and lower permeability compared to low density polyethylene (LDPE). Due to its high branching degree, less dense molecular structure, soft materials, and high transparency, LDPE materials are often used when making products that require elasticity, such as droppers, bottle washing, and so on.
In addition to the common HDPE and LDPE, there are also linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), which combines the rigidity of high-density polyethylene and the toughness of low density polyethylene with other improved materials with stronger properties.
Polypropylene (PP)：
Polypropylene and polyethylene are polymers that are similar to olefins. Compared to polyethylene, one H atom on each ethylene molecule is replaced by a methyl group. Polypropylene is a translucent material, the biggest difference from polyethylene is that it can withstand high-temperature and high-pressure steam sterilization. Polypropylene is more susceptible to strong oxidants than polyethylene, but its hardness is stronger than polyethylene, and it has the best resistance to stress cracking in polyolefins. Although polypropylene has good high-temperature resistance, its embrittlement temperature is also very high. Only at 0 ℃, the plastic will become very brittle, and if subjected to a large external force impact at this time, it may cause damage.
Polystyrene (PS)：
It is polymerized from styrene, and polystyrene is formed by replacing one hydrogen atom in polyethylene with phenyl. Polystyrene has high transparency, good optical transmittance, and good surface modification, so it is commonly used as a consumable for cell culture and as an enzyme label plate. However, polystyrene has poor chemical resistance, and even weak acids and bases cannot be well tolerated. Moreover, polystyrene products are relatively fragile and prone to collision damage at room temperature.
Polypropylene Copolymer (PPCO)：
Polypropylene copolymers also polymerize polyethylene in polypropylene, the basic molecule being a repeating unit sequence of ethylene and propylene. Polypropylene copolymers have the properties of both polyethylene and polypropylene. It not only retains the advantages of polypropylene's resistance to high temperature and high pressure, but also inherits the low-temperature resistance characteristics of polyethylene, making polypropylene, which is originally prone to embrittlement, have better low-temperature resistance. In addition, PPCO also has the toughness of polyethylene, making it more stress resistant.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)：
The molecular structure formula of polyvinyl chloride is similar to that of polyethylene. One of the H atoms is replaced by a Cl atom. Due to the chlorine atom, PVC materials are more susceptible to the influence of some solvents, but at the same time, they have more prominent advantages in other aspects. PVC has excellent oil resistance (except for aromatic oils) and very low permeability to most gases. PVC is a light blue transparent material. The walls of PVC narrow necked bottles are relatively thin and can be slightly bent. After mixing phthalate plasticizers, PVC materials become soft and flexible, and can be pressed into flexible pipes.
The above describes several common plastics. In summary, PP and PE are the most common types of plastics in the laboratory, and they can usually be selected if there are no special needs. If the experiment requires high temperature resistance and even requires pressure steam sterilization, PP materials can be selected. If there are requirements for low-temperature performance, PE can be selected. If there is a broader range of usage scenarios, it is possible to consider selecting modified polypropylene copolymers. PS materials are commonly used in experimental consumables such as cells.
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