The microsphere standards are small spherical particles of specific size and material used for calibrating, validating, and verifying scientific instruments such as particle counters, microscopes, and flow cytometers. These standards are typically highly uniform with well-defined size, made of polymers (e.g. polystyrene) or inorganic materials (e.g. glass and silica). The microsphere standards are crucial for ensuring the accuracy of measurements in different labs, and are widely used in fields such as life sciences, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and aerosol and liquid particle research.
Microsphere standards are commonly made of polymers or silica, which have unique characteristics based on the properties of the materials. Compared to silica microspheres, polymer microspheres have a lower density and a wide range of applications. They can be functionalized or fluorescently stained for specific detection. Silica microspheres have higher mechanical and chemical stability and stronger resistance to organic solvents than polymer microspheres. Silica materials can resist bacterial erosion and have better biocompatibility than polymers, which makes silica microspheres widely used in life science research. In addition, silica microspheres have a higher density than polymer microspheres, making them suitable for calibrating particle size analysis instruments and being more contrastive in optical and electron bean applications.
Amerigo Scientific offers high-quality microsphere standards in various materials and sizes. These standards range in size from 0.1 micrometers to 5.0 millimeters, and are nearly all NIST traceable. The products can be provided as single sizes form or board distributed standards.
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