BioSpec Products now features 96-well microplates and sealing mats manufactured by Porvair Sciences.  When used with our high-energy Mini-BeadBeater-96 cell disrupter and bead mill these microplates offer the highest level of processing reliability

Porvair Science's reinforced polypropylene, 2 ml square 96 deep well microplates have extra structural ribbing on their bottom which provides support when used with a high energy shaking bead mill.  Their microplates are made of specially formulated polypropylene and pair with special reusable mats.  The microplates can also be sealed with adhesive-bonded or heat-bonded films, but these films seldom prevent leaking during intense shaking in a Mini-BeadBeater-96.

Recently, BioSpec tested plate/mat combinations made by several manufacturers using steel beads in both wet-grinding and dry-grinding conditions. In one of the more stringent tests, Porvair microplates and mats maintained structural integrity while powdering dry samples of human hair in the Mini-BeadBeater-96 using two 3.2 mm chrome steel beads in each well .  In contrast, all other plates cracked during use and some even had holes punched through them under the  severe test grinding conditions.  Independent support for these findings come from a leading UK contract genomics laboratory. Testing barley seeds, a notoriously hard carpel to crack, they reported that Porvair deep well microplates sucessfully survived 4 minutes of bead beating using a single 6 mm steel in a high speed shaking bead mill.