Editing Microplate (section)

==Manufacture and composition==
The most common manufacturing process is [[injection molding]], using materials such as polystyrene, polypropylene and cyclo-olefin for different temperature and chemical resistance needs. Glass is also a possible material, and [[vacuum forming]] can be used with many other plastics such as polycarbonate.

Microplates are manufactured from a variety of materials: 
* [[Polystyrene]] (PS) is the most common, and is used for high-clarity optical detection microplates. It can be coloured white by the addition of [[titanium dioxide]] for optical [[absorbance]] or [[luminescence]] detection or black by the addition of [[carbon]] for [[fluorescent]] biological assays. But, it has poor resistance to organic solvents. It also starts melting at around 80˚C, and thus cannot be autoclaved.<ref name="enzyscreen-plastics">{{cite web | title=Basic information on plastics | website=Enzyscreen | url=https://www.enzyscreen.com/article/basic-information-on-plastics/ | access-date=2024-11-01}}</ref>
* [[Polypropylene]] (PP) is used for the construction of plates subject to wide changes in temperature, such as storage at −80&nbsp;°C and thermal cycling. It has excellent properties for the long-term storage of novel chemical [[Chemical compound|compounds]] and high resistance to organic solvents. It can be sterilized by autoclaving at 121˚C.<ref name="enzyscreen-plastics"></ref> Reportedly leachables including [[plasticizers]] (i.e. phtalates), whiteners, and heavy metals ([[cobalt]]) are more of a concern with PP versus PS plates.<ref name="enzyscreen-plastics"></ref>
* Cyclo-olefins ([[Cyclic olefin polymer|COP]] and [[Cyclic olefin copolymer|COC]]) are now being used to construct microplates which transmit [[near-ultraviolet]] light, allowing applications like protein assays via [[absorbance]] measurements at 280 [[nanometer|nm]]. But, COC has a poor resistance to organic solvents.
* [[Polycarbonate]] (PC) is cheap and easy to mould and has been used for disposable microplates for the [[polymerase chain reaction]] (PCR) method of [[desoxyribonucleic acid|DNA]] amplification.
* [[soda lime glass|Glass]] or [[quartz]] is also, albeit less commonly & rather expensively, used to construct microplates for special applications that require extreme resistance to organic solvents and/or the surface properties of glass, or the [[ultraviolet C]] transmission capability of quartz.

Composite microplates, including filter bottom plates, [[solid phase extraction]] (SPE) plates, and even some advanced PCR plate designs, use multiple components and/or materials which are moulded separately and later assembled into a finished product. ELISA plates may now be assembled from twelve separate strips of eight wells, making it easier to only partially use a plate.