What Samples are Suitable

Micropipettors work best with non-volatile solvents which do not react with the tip material. A solvent which is volatile may evaporate whilst being pipetted and may ‘bump’ in the pipette tip. This can result in a lower volume being transferred, or the solvent vapours may cause damage to the micropipette. It is generally advised to avoid voilatile solvents, however, it is useful to draw up and expel the liquid a couple of times before pipetting across your sample. This ‘pre-wetting’ technique increases the humidity in the tip reducing any variation in sample evaporation (see videos tab), which can enable successful pipetting on some volatile solvents.

Many organic chemicals will react with the plastic tips used with micropipettes which may affect the accuracy of dispensed volumes or could pose risk with undesired reactions. Additionally,  compounds which are volatile may cause damage to the pipette itself and should be avoided. As a result, micropipettes are generally restricted to use with dilute aqueous solutions.

The combination of the above factors means that micropipettes are most suitable for using with aqueous solutions.