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.

Samples that are able to dissolve the tips also present issues, as can compounds which are volatile and may cause damage to the pipette itself and should be avoided.

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