What is low retention?

What is low retention?

Low retention is an unique specification of laboratory consumables, especially for molecular biology field. Low retention design is able to achieve clean release, it means even though the sample or liquid is sticky, such as loading dye and glycerol, it will only slightly even not adhensive on the surface of consumables.
 

How are the consumables made low retention?

In a past duration, in pace with the technology of molecular biology was developed, people chased more precise, accurate and senstive experiement. Then, the working volume of reagents and the dimensions of instrument were designed less and smaller for saving space and time. It caused the original tolerance of volume error not being acceptable. The retention of plastic consumables to reagents were thought strongly affect the precision. Therefore, plastic consumables were coated or treated with silicon to feature low retention.

Silicon-coating is definitely a effective way for clean release, however, it was also challenged probably not to be coated consistently.

Thus, SMB selected the suitable polypropylene within over 3000 kinds of one and developed our proprietary fomula of resin with perfect hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties. Which makes our low retention plasticware to clean release.
 

Should I choose low retention products?

Not certainly. It depends on your real needs.

Traditionally, people thought low retention plastic consumables are good for nucleic acid, PCR or proteins. 

For plasticware, it's exact. Low retention plasticware will not absorb or adherse trace amount samples, especially protein is usually glummy.

However, for liquid handling, the answer perhaps is "maybe".

Because usual liquid handling device is pipette (negative displacement pipette) through vaccum effect to transfer the liquid, too small volume of liquid (below 1 μL) means very small vaccum force and cohesion. If plastic pipette tip with too strong hydrophobic property, it will cause the liquid is not able to hold in the tip before it is released, pipetting error occurs.

Therefore, low retention is indeed helpful for trace amount samples, but it depends on the applications and products.

SMB low retention pipette tips are designed for trace amount, and we still suggest you to consider our non-low retention tips (such as T10CB and T10 CR) for liquid below 1 μL.

As well as, all your treasured trace amount samples are suitable for stored in our low retention tubes to make sure no samples will be absorbed by the vessels.
 

What kind of products with low retention we offer?

SMB offers low retention pipette tips and microcentrifuge tubes as follows: