Any pipette's performance and accuracy can be severely affected by the use of poor-quality or inappropriate tips. As a system, the pipette and its tips must be compatible to ensure accurate liquid transfer and delivery. After mastering the correct pipetting techniques, using recommended tips can ensure accuracy in pipetting.
Currently, in the market, tips for pipettes are mostly made of polypropylene plastic (chemically inert, colorless, and transparent plastic with a wide range of operating temperatures). However, the same polypropylene can vary greatly in quality: high-quality tips are usually made of virgin polypropylene, while cheaper tips might be made of recycled polypropylene plastic (in such cases, they can only be said to be primarily composed of polypropylene).
Besides, most tips will have small amounts of additives added during the manufacturing process, commonly including:
Coloring materials
The commonly known blue tips (1000ul) and yellow tips (200ul) in the market are made by adding corresponding coloring materials into the polypropylene (we hope it is high-quality color masterbatch rather than low-quality industrial pigments);
Release agents
They help tips quickly detach from molds after shaping. Of course, the more additives, the higher the likelihood of undesirable chemical reactions during pipetting.
Filter tips are used to prevent cross-contamination during pipetting or contamination of pipettes by aerosol particles generated during pipetting, without affecting the pipette's performance. It is recommended to use filter tips to prevent DNA or RNA contamination (genomic applications, PCR) or to pipette volatile solutions, preventing potential corrosive vapors from entering the pipette and damaging the piston.
Compared to standard polypropylene tips, low retention tips have two main advantages. First, they help maximize the discharge of sample liquid from the tip regardless of the liquid's composition or physical properties. This means optimized dispensing of viscous liquids and other stubborn liquids, such as those with reduced surface tension.
Second, for laboratories that frequently pipette a series of different sample liquids, the low-residual surface "standardizes" the inflow and outflow of liquids in and out of the tip. This means that the pipetting accuracy of liquids with different compositions and physical properties is adjusted, maintaining a higher uniformity when routinely using various liquids with different physical properties in a specific lab environment.
Extended tips are much longer and slightly narrower than standard pipette tips. These designs provide extra “reach” while aspirating, recommended for extracting samples from certain tall and narrow containers, such as tubes and vials, which standard length tips cannot reach.
Compared to standard pipette tips, automation tips are mainly adapted for pipetting workstations and fully automated sample loading systems, conducting high-throughput pipetting experiments. They can be used for genomics, proteomics, cellomics, immunoassays, metabolomics, biopharmaceutical research and development, and other common high-throughput pipetting needs. Automated pipetting workstations operate fully automatically, with the tips moving as a unit to draw the same volume, significantly reducing labor costs and human errors, freeing experimenters from complex experimental operations, improving efficiency, achieving standardization, and enhancing data security and traceability.
