What is a cuvette used for?
Cuvettes are designed to hold samples for spectroscopic measurement, where a beam of light is passed through the sample within the cuvette to measure the absorbance, transmittance, fluorescence intensity, fluorescence polarization, or fluorescence lifetime of the sample. This measurement is done with a spectrophotometer .
How does a microcuvette work?
When the tip of a microcuvette touches a drop of sample, it automatically draws the precise amount needed into a tiny mixing cavity. This cavity, dimensioned within thousands of a millimeter, contains dried reagent that dissolves when the liquid reaches it.
What is a cuvette in a spectrophotometer?
Often the sample is a solution, with the substance of interest dissolved within. The sample is placed in a cuvette and the cuvette is placed in a spectrophotometer for testing. The cuvette can be made of any material that is transparent in the range of wavelengths used in the test.
What is a cuvette made out of?
Cuvettes are usually made of different transparent materials, such as optical glass, quartz, sapphire, or optical plastic. Each material has unique light-passing properties and it is important to know about such optical characteristic properties before you select the cuvette material.
What is a cuvette in spectrophotometry?
Cuvettes are small vials that may be made from glass, quartz or plastic and used for analysis with a spectrometer, fluorometer or spectrophotometer. The high degree of clarity and square shape allow for light to pass through the sample and produce readings with the instrument.
Why do we use cuvette?
Cuvettes are used similarly to test tubes because they hold aqueous samples. However, unlike test tubes, a cuvette is used in a spectrophotometer or a fluorometer to measure the absorbance or % Transmission of light at a specific wavelength.
Why glass cuvette is used in UV?
Glass cuvettes are used for measurements in the visible range from 320 to 2500 nm. Quartz cuvettes deliver precise results in the whole UV and visible range from 200 to 2500 nm. The smaller the manufacturing tolerance, the better and more repeatable the measurement.
Why are glass cuvettes better than plastic?
In general, glass cuvettes display greater transparency and accuracy of measurement, and they can be re-used many times. Then again, handling of plastic cuvettes is simple and safe. Since plastic cuvettes are only used once and do not require cleaning, possible damage and loss do not have to be taken into account.
How much liquid can a cuvette hold?
3.5 mLCuvette Volume Options Standard cuvettes hold a measuring volume of 3.5 mL. A standard cuvette will fit in most spectrometers. Semi-micro cuvettes hold a measuring volume of 0.35 to 3.5 mL. To hold the smaller sample, these cuvettes must use a spacer, mount or standard cuvette exterior with a tapered interior.
Why quartz does not absorb UV light?
The UV range is from 0.1 nm to about 400 nm (or from 100 A to about 4000 A). The visible light wavelengths are longer, between 400 nm and 700 nm. Quartz will transmit UV from 180 nm to 400 nm. Since quartz is made of silicon dioxide, glasses made from a high proportion of this material will also readily transmit UV.
How does cuvette size affect absorbance?
The absorbance is directly proportional to the length of the light path (l), which is equal to the width of the cuvette.
Are cuvettes reusable?
The cuvettes should be washed for reuse. If washed properly, they can be reused up to 10 times. For each cuvette, do the following while waiting for the cells to recover: Squirt 95% ethanol to fill cuvette more than halfway.
How can you tell the difference between quartz and glass cuvettes?
They best thing to do to see if it's a quartz or glass cuvette is to pop it into your spectrophotometer and run a wavelength scan from 200-700 nm. If you see transmission start at 190 nm this is a UV quartz cuvette. If the transmission starts at 340 nm this is a glass cuvette.
What is the black cuvette used for?
Cuvette c is a semi micro volume absorbance cuvette ( 2 clear walls ). It has two dark (black) walls that no light transmits. This is useful because a 10 mm path length cuvette may be used with a much smaller volume and any light not passing through the solution will be masked from reaching out to the light detector.
What is the most commonly used cuvette?
The four most popular cuvette materials are listed below:Optical Glass or Pyrex Glass.UV Quartz.IR Quartz.Sapphire.
What are the different types of cuvettes?
Three sizes available: Macro, 2.5mL minimum volume. Semi-Micro, 1.5mL minimum volume. Ultra-Micro, 70µL minimum volume.
Why should we use quartz cuvettes for measuring absorbance in the UV range?
Quartz stands out in this aspect. The material remains transparent in both visible light and UV ranges. That is why it can be easily used for UV-light spectrum sample measurements.
What does cuvette mean?
Definition of cuvette : a small often transparent laboratory vessel (such as a tube)
How does cuvette size affect absorbance?
The absorbance is directly proportional to the length of the light path (l), which is equal to the width of the cuvette.
What is cuvette made of?
A cuvette is a type of sample holder for liquid samples. Often, they are made of plastic, borosilicate glass, or quartz. StellarNet offers glass cuvettes for experiments in the visible or NIR ranges and quartz cuvettes for experiments in the UV range.
What is a cuvette?
A cuvette ( French: cuvette = "little vessel") is a small tube-like container with straight sides and a circular or square cross section. It is sealed at one end, and made of a clear, transparent material such as plastic, glass, or fused quartz.
Why are cuvettes used in the ultraviolet?
Historically, reusable quartz cuvettes were required for measurements in the ultraviolet range, because glass and most plastics absorb ultraviolet light, creating interference. Today there are disposable plastic cuvettes made of specialized plastics that are transparent to ultraviolet light.
How many microliters can a cuvette hold?
The cuvette can be made of any material that is transparent in the range of wavelengths used in the test. The smallest cuvettes can hold 70 microliters, while the largest can hold 2.5 milliliters or more.
Why is there a rubber rack on the side of a cuvette?
Scratches on the sides of the cuvette the light passes through scatter light and cause errors. A rubber or plastic rack protects the cuvette from accidentally hitting and being scratched by the machine casing. The solvent and temperature can also affect measurements. Cuvettes to be used in circular dichroism experiments should never be mechanically stressed, as the stress will induce birefringence in the quartz and affect measurements.
How many transparent sides does a cuvette have?
Many cuvettes have a light path of 10 mm (0.39 in), which simplifies calculation of the coefficient of absorption. Most cuvettes have two transparent sides opposite one another so the spectrophotometer light can pass through, although some tests use reflection so only need a single transparent side.
What is the most expensive cuvette?
Sapphire cuvettes are the most expensive, though provide the most durable, scratch-resistant, and transmissible material. The transmission extends from UV light to mid-infrared, ranging from 250 to 5,000 nm. Sapphire can withstand the extreme natural condition of some sample solutions and variances in temperature.
What is the wavelength of a cuvette?
Plastic cuvettes with a usable wavelength range of 380–780 nm (the visible spectrum) may be disposed of after use, preventing contamination from re-use. They are cheap to manufacture and purchase.
How to use a cuvette?
To use a cuvette you simply inject a sample into the cuvette, filling it to about 80% capacity. This value varies from cuvette to cuvette. We like to make things as easy as possible so we provide these values on our website for all of our cuvettes so you know exactly how much sample to measure out.
Why are cuvettes used in spectrophotometers?
However, unlike test tubes, a cuvette is used in a spectrophotometer or a fluorometer to measure the absorbance or % Transmission of light at a specific wavelength.
1.What material do you need?
It highly depends on the wavelength and solvents characteristics type you work with when measuring the sample.
Transmission of Different Materials in Empty Cuvettes
Cuvettes can be made of different materials, and they also can be assembled with different technics, such as Glued, Powder fused, or all fused.
3. What path length do you need?
The max path length you can use depends on the laboratory apparatus, and the other factors including sample characteristics, volume availability, levels of concentration, and types of measurements to be made will affect the decision when choosing the appropriate path length of a cuvette for your applications.
4. What Cuvette Z-Dimension do you need?
Depends on the Z-Dimension of the machine, where the light beam comes out.
5. What capacity do you need?
The cuvette capacity is dependent on the path length awfully. Usually, the larger the path length, the larger the capacity of the cell.
6. What type of cover do you need?
There are many types of cuvette covers. Blow are the basic cuvette covers we supplied in ecuvettes.com.
7. Do you need custom cuvettes?
If the cuvettes listed on ecuvettes.com do not fit into your requirements, then email us for customizing any of the hundreds of cuvettes from our product line to produce exactly what you need.
What material is UV cuvette made of?
There are many different materials that a cuvette can be made from. The four most popular cuvette materials are listed below: Optical Glass or Pyrex Glass. UV Quartz.
Can you customize a cuvette?
We can customized any of the hundreds of cuvettes from our product line to produce exactly what you need. You give us the specs you want and we’ll take care of making you the cuvette of your dreams.
Do you need a quartz cuvette for UV?
For UV experiments, you absolutely need a UV quartz cuvette and we highly recommend you do not try to cut corners here because by getting a cheap UV cell, your data will not be up to par. IR Quartz is great choice for cuvettes for UV VIS measurements. The transmission range is 220-3,500 nm so you get some of the UV, ...
What is the tip of a microcuvette?
When the tip of a microcuvette touches a drop of sample, it automatically draws the precise amount needed into a tiny mixing cavity. This cavity, dimensioned within thousands of a millimeter, contains dried reagent that dissolves when the liquid reaches it. The microcuvette is then placed in a photometric analyzer, which quickly returns an accurate measurement value.
Can microcuvettes be used to analyze hemoglobin?
Working with microcuvettes, dried reagents and photometry, it is possible to analyze not just hemoglobin, but almost any substance in a liquid medium.
Why is cuvette cleaning important?
Proper cuvette cleaning is very important. The residue from previous experiments can result in poor performance, inaccurate measurements and will waste your time and your sample. Proper cleaning of your cuvettes will increase their useful life and provide more consistent results.
Can you clean cuvettes in an ultrasonic bath?
If the cuvettes are stored wet , they may dry with sample material on the measuring surfaces, which will effect subsequent measurements. DO NOT clean your cuvettes in a ultrasonic cleaning bath. The high frequencies used in these baths will damage or even shatter your cuvettes.
Can you clean cuvettes in a bath?
DO NOT clean your cuvettes in a ultrasonic cleaning bath. The high frequencies used in these baths will damage or even shatter your cuvettes.
Why use spin columns in electroporation?
For optimal results, spin columns are recommended for clean up of ligation reactions. Electroporation conditions vary with different cuvettes and electroporators. If you are using electroporators or cuvettes not specified in the protocol, you may need to optimize the electroporation conditions.
How to thaw electrocompetent cells?
Electrocompetent cells should be thawed on ice and suspended well by carefully flicking the tubes.
What can lower electroporation efficiency?
Contaminants such as salts and proteins can lower electroporation efficiency. Ideally, DNA for transformation should be purified and suspended in water or TE. Transformation efficiency is more than 10-fold lower for ligation mixtures than the control pUC19 plasmid due to the presence of ligase and salts. If used directly, ligation reactions should be heat-inactivated at 65°C for 20 min and then diluted 10-fold. For optimal results, spin columns are recommended for clean up of ligation reactions.
Summary
A cuvette (French: cuvette = "little vessel") is a small tube-like container with straight sides and a circular or square cross section. It is sealed at one end, and made of a clear, transparent material such as plastic, glass, or fused quartz. Cuvettes are designed to hold samples for spectroscopic measurement, where a beam of light is passed through the sample within the cuvette to measure the a…
Overview
Traditional ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy or fluorescence spectroscopy uses samples that are liquid. Often the sample is a solution, with the substance of interest dissolved within. The sample is placed in a cuvette and the cuvette is placed in a spectrophotometer for testing. The cuvette can be made of any material that is transparent in the range of wavelengths used in the test.
Technique
Scratches on the sides of the cuvette the light passes through scatter light and cause errors. A rubber or plastic rack protects the cuvette from accidentally hitting and being scratched by the machine casing. The solvent and temperature can also affect measurements. Cuvettes to be used in circular dichroism experiments should never be mechanically stressed, as the stress will induce b…
Types
Historically, reusable quartz cuvettes were required for measurements in the ultraviolet range, because glass and most plastics absorb ultraviolet light, creating interference. Today there are disposable plastic cuvettes made of specialized plastics that are transparent to ultraviolet light. Glass, plastic and quartz cuvettes are all suitable for measurements made at longer wavelengths, such as in the visible light range.
History
In 1934, James Franklin Hyde created a combined silica cell, which was free from other extraneous elements, as a liquefying technique of other glass products. In the 1950s, Starna Ltd. improved the method to completely melt a segment of glass using heat without deforming its shape. This innovation has altered the production of inert cuvettes without any thermosetting resin. Before the rectangular cuvette was created, ordinary test tubes were used. As innovation motivated change…
Additional images
• UV-VIS spectrophotometer used with cuvette
• Pointing the clear side of cuvette toward the light source
See also
• Calibration curve
External links
• Spectrophotometry Handbooks
• Standard Practice for Describing and Measuring Performance of Ultraviolet, Visible, and Near-Infrared Spectrophotometers