Plastics for cell cultures

Cell culture plastics are specially modified polymers that serve as a substrate for cell growth and adhesion under laboratory conditions. The plastics must be non-toxic and must not affect cell viability. They provide good transparency for microscopic observation of cells. They can be modified (e.g. by plasma treatment or chemical methods) to promote cell adhesion and growth. There are also non-adhesive surfaces for suspension cultures. They are sterilized (e.g. by gamma irradiation) and do not contain endotoxins or other contaminants. They must be chemically and mechanically stable under normal culture conditions (temperature, pH, sterilization methods). The most commonly used materials are polystyrene, polycarbonate and polypropylene, with polystyrene being the most widely used due to its clarity and the possibility of surface treatments.

In this section you will find culture flasks, culture dishes, multi-well culture plates, scrapers and cell strainers.

Disposable plastic serological pipettes can be found in the liquid handling, centrifuge tubes in the plastic equipment section, and microtiter plates for cell cultures can be found in the analysis plates section.