Phosphate Buffers | See Why and How to Use Phosphate Buffers
Want a free sample case of your preferred phosphate buffer (either Butterfield’s for food, pharma, dairy, etc…or phosphate for water and wastewater)?
Step 1: Find your product number on this page.Step 2: Enter it in the form on this page to request your sample.
Choose Phosphate Buffer in Dilution Bottles to Reduce Manual Labor in the Lab
There are better things to do with your time than making Butterfield’s and phosphate buffer solutions in-house.
When your free samples arrive (did you request them at the link above yet?) you’ll notice a handful of benefits over your in-house solutions.
- Consistency and quality control: Premade buffers are manufactured under controlled conditions and with rigorous quality control - even moreso than in your lab. That means your phosphate buffer won’t be a source of variability in your data.
- Convenience: Using premade phosphate buffer eliminates the need for the time-consuming process of weighing, dissolving, and pH adjustment involved in making the buffer from scratch.
- Safety: Preparing buffers in-house involves handling chemicals and adjusting pH with strong acids or bases. Any time you reduce chemical handling, you reduce risks. Purchasing premade phosphate buffer minimizes exposure to chemicals and reduces the risk of accidents.
- Storage and shelf life: Your premade dilution bottles with phosphate buffer or Butterfield’s buffer are gamma irradiated and packaged in clear PET bottles. That gives them a 2-year shelf life.
- A lot of time saving: Premade phosphate buffer frees valuable time for researchers and technicians, allowing them to focus on the core aspects of their experiments rather than preparatory tasks.
For labs using phosphate buffer infrequently, or in small volumes, buying premade may be more cost-effective than purchasing individual chemicals and preparing the buffer in-house.
If you’re looking for creative ways to save time and money in the lab, simply switching to prepaid phosphate buffer in dilution bottles is a great first step.
Click here for volume pricing on phosphate buffer and Butterfield’s
Phosphate Buffer Basics
Research efforts are only as successful as the products hard working scientists use to conduct their work in the first place.
Such is the case with phosphate buffers, also commonly referred to as phosphate buffer saline (and usually abbreviated as PBS). This is a type of buffer solution used by biological researchers that is made up of:
- Sodium chloride
- Sodium phosphate
- Sometimes potassium chloride and potassium phosphate
Phosphate buffers are widely used because they help maintain a constant pH level in a particular environment. Generally speaking, most researchers using phosphate buffers try to maintain a pH of 7.4 because the properties closely match those of the human body.
However, phosphate buffers have a wide range of additional uses, too. A large part of this has to do with the fact that the solutions are both non-toxic (with regards to most cells) and isotonic.
Sometimes they're used to dilute substances so they're safer to work with. Often, these solutions are also used to rinse containers that previously held cells and other materials. Many lab technicians use it as a way to dry biomolecules as well.
The Many Uses of Phosphate Buffers
How you will use phosphate buffer solutions ultimately depends on your application and what type of product you happen to be using.
Buffer Dilution Water Pillows, for example, are made from magnesium chloride and potassium dihydrogen phosphate and are designed to create 25 L of dilution water at a ratio of one liter of distilled water per pillow. This particular product is recommended for diluting most non-potable and wastewater samples and comes in a pack of 25 pillows.
Phosphate buffers play a critical role in the food services industry in particular. This technique is commonly used to test certain types of foods for bacteria that could ultimately harm a brand's customers and, by extension, its reputation, and sales.
Sometimes phosphate buffers are used to dry bio molecules because the water molecules inside those solutions will "dry" and immobilize to a solid surface. This method also helps to prevent not only denaturation, but other types of changes that could create trouble for the important data gleaned from a process.
But more than anything, phosphate buffers are about collecting as much actionable information as possible so those in leadership positions can always make informed decisions about product or process quality.
Phosphate Buffer Products You Can Trust
At Weber Scientific, we always make it a priority to offer a wide range of different phosphate buffer products and solutions for you to choose from depending on your needs.
One of the most popular is the Mega-Reg 400 (TM) Butterfield's Phosphate Buffer, a Weber Exclusive. This product was designed to be a cost-effective and convenient way to aid in the sampling of chicken carcasses for all necessary generic E. coli testing.
Weber Scientific Dilution Bottles
Weber DB Sterilized Pre-filled Dilution Bottles are a convenient and eco-friendly phosphate buffer option for your laboratory. Each bottle is:
- Sterilized
- Pre-filled with a capacity of 90 or 99ml
- Recyclable.
Additionally, Weber DB bottles are the only PET disposable dilution bottles on the market, sporting glass-like clarity. This allows you to visually inspect the contents while also knowing that they will remain safely contained if dropped.
Other features include:
- Natural polyethylene attached caps, a greener alternative to prior designs.
- Sterility (there is no chance of microbial contamination) by gamma irradiation.
- Two year shelf life – the longest in the industry – from the date of manufacture.
- Available in two formulations – Butterfield’s Buffer for food and dairy, and Phosphate Buffer for water and wastewater testing.
Weber DB™ Dilution Bottles offer a comprehensive, safe and sterile phosphate buffer option for your laboratory.
Learn About Weber Scientific
From the moment our parent company NJDL Supplies, Inc. first opened its doors all the way back in 1959 until now, our core goal has always remained the same. We aim to act as a trusted name in the industry, offering all of the phosphate buffer solutions and similar laboratory tools you need when you need them the most.
More than anything, we want to support and empower the groundbreaking work that you're doing. We can't do that if you don't trust us implicitly, and we can't get to that point if we don't offer the quality products you can depend on at the most affordable prices possible.
If you'd like to find out more information about all of our phosphate buffer options, browse online today!