{"id":3533,"date":"2026-10-08T11:44:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T03:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.grupoinvercap.com\/blog\/?p=3533"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:44:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T03:44:27","slug":"what-is-the-uv-transmittance-of-deep-well-plates-4c37-be2064","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.grupoinvercap.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/08\/what-is-the-uv-transmittance-of-deep-well-plates-4c37-be2064\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the UV transmittance of deep well plates?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey everyone, it\u2019s Jake from the deep well plate team \u2013 y\u2019know, the guy who\u2019s spent the last 8 years troubleshooting every little thing about these plastic workhorses that labs can\u2019t live without. Today we\u2019re breaking down one of the most asked (and most confusing) questions we get from researchers: what even is<\/em> the UV transmittance of deep well plates? It\u2019s not just a random spec number we throw on a data sheet \u2013 trust me, skip this and your entire experiment can go up in smoke (figuratively\u2026 unless you leave it under a UV lamp too long, but we\u2019ll get there). Deep Well Plate<\/a><\/p>\n

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First off, let\u2019s cut through the jargon. UV transmittance is basically how much UV light passes through the plastic of the plate\u2019s wells. We\u2019re talking specifically about UV-C (100-280 nm), UV-B (280-315 nm), and UV-A (315-400 nm) \u2013 the three bands that matter for lab work, whether you\u2019re doing PCR, protein quantification, cell culture, or sample sterilization. Most of you aren\u2019t just grabbing any plastic for these assays, right? Your plates need to play nice with UV, not act like a tiny opaque wall that blocks half your reads.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing: not all deep well plates are built the same. I see this mistake all the time \u2013 a researcher pulls a cheap plate from a bulk order, runs a UV-based assay, and wonders why their control samples are showing 50% lower readings than they should. Nine times out of ten, that\u2019s a transmittance issue, not their protocol. Let\u2019s break down the numbers, because that\u2019s where it gets real.<\/p>\n

Our standard polypropylene (PP) deep well plates \u2013 the workhorse for routine sample storage, bead-based assays, and general processing \u2013 have a UV transmittance of less than 1%<\/em> across all UV bands, especially below 300 nm. That\u2019s great if you don\u2019t want UV messing with your samples (like if you\u2019re storing precious RNA that degrades in UV light) or if you\u2019re using the plate for things that don\u2019t need UV detection. But if you\u2019re doing UV-based absorbance reads \u2013 like measuring DNA at 260 nm, or protein at 280 nm \u2013 this PP plate is basically useless. The plastic is blocking way too much light, so your spectrophotometer can\u2019t pick up the signal correctly. The same goes if you\u2019re doing UV crosslinking for assays or sterilizing samples in the plate: that 99% transmittance block means your samples won\u2019t get the full UV exposure they need, so your results will be garbage.<\/p>\n

Now, if you do<\/em> need UV transmittance, that\u2019s where our specialty UV-transparent deep well plates come in. These aren\u2019t the cheap stuff you find on Amazon \u2013 they\u2019re made with modified acrylic or cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) that\u2019s engineered to let UV light pass through, no weird additives that mess with your samples. Our research data shows these plates have a UV transmittance of 85-92%<\/em> between 260 nm and 400 nm, with a slight dip in the UV-C range (which actually works out for sterilization, since UV-C is the most effective for killing microbes). Wait, let\u2019s get specific: at 260 nm, the sweet spot for nucleic acid quantification, it\u2019s 88% on average. At 280 nm for protein, it\u2019s 86% \u2013 that\u2019s almost exactly what a quartz cuvette would give, but without the fragility and cost of glass.<\/p>\n

But hold on, there\u2019s a catch (always is, right? No one\u2019s making perfect plates). UV transmittance drops like a rock when you add samples to the wells. If you\u2019re using a 100 uL sample, that\u2019s fine \u2013 the light only has to pass through that tiny volume plus the plastic, so you get that 85-92% number. But if you\u2019re loading a full deep well (like 2 mL), the path length is longer, so transmittance drops by about 10-15% because the light has to travel through more liquid. Most labs forget that \u2013 they test the empty plate\u2019s transmittance on a spec sheet, load up their plate full of samples, and then wonder why their reads are off. We always tell customers to factor in sample volume when calculating actual transmittance for their assay.<\/p>\n

Another thing: lot-to-lot consistency. I\u2019ve had a customer call us freaking out because their last batch of UV plates had transmittance 10% lower than the previous one. Turns out, they were buying from a no-name supplier that skips quality control. At our facility, every single batch of UV deep well plates gets tested on a spectrophotometer at 5 nm intervals from 200 nm to 400 nm. We track that data, so you can pull a batch-specific transmittance curve if you need it for your assay \u2013 no guesswork. The cheap suppliers? They might test 1 plate out of 10,000, and that one might pass, but the rest? Total junk. That\u2019s why we get so many repeat customers \u2013 we don\u2019t cut corners on that QC step.<\/p>\n

Wait, let\u2019s talk about common use cases, because that\u2019s where transmittance actually matters. If you\u2019re doing high-throughput sample prep for next-gen sequencing, where you\u2019re storing DNA for weeks, a standard PP plate\u2019s <1% UV transmittance is perfect \u2013 it stops ambient lab UV light from degrading your samples, no need for special light-tight storage boxes. But if you\u2019re doing a Cary 60 absorbance read in a deep well plate to quantify your PCR products? You need that high-transmittance UV plate. I\u2019ve seen labs waste thousands of dollars on sequencing runs because they used the wrong plate \u2013 all because they skipped checking the transmittance spec. That\u2019s not a experiment gone wrong, that\u2019s a plate gone wrong.<\/p>\n

What about sterilization with UV? If you\u2019re using your deep well plate to sterilize bacterial cultures or reagent stocks, you want that UV-C range transmittance. Our UV plates let 220-280 nm light pass through at around 60-65%, which is enough to get a 6-log reduction in microbes in 10-15 minutes \u2013 way faster than if you were using a PP plate, which would only let through 0.1% of that UV-C light, taking hours (if it worked at all). We had a customer last month who was using a lab-made UV sterilization station for his deep well plates; he switched to our UV-transparent plates and cut his sterilization time by 70% \u2013 that\u2019s a huge win for a lab running 20 batches a day.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s clear up a myth I hear all the time: \u201cAll plastic is opaque to UV, so I need quartz.\u201d No, that\u2019s only for super precise, low-volume assays. Quartz is great, but it\u2019s fragile, way more expensive, and you can\u2019t get it in deep well formats (or at least not at a price point that makes sense for high-throughput work). Our COC UV plates are a middle ground that hits almost the same transmittance as quartz, but they\u2019re rigid, disposable, and 1\/10 the cost. I used to work at a big pharma lab, and we went from quartz to these plates for our high-throughput screening assays and never looked back \u2013 no more broken cuvettes, no more inconsistent reads, way less waste.<\/p>\n

Another point: well bottom design. A lot of people forget that the transmittance isn\u2019t just about the plastic material, but how the well is molded. Our plates have a flat, thin well bottom (1.5 mm thick, vs. 2 mm for most cheap plates) specifically for UV light transmission. If the bottom is too thick, even if it\u2019s made of UV-transparent plastic, the light has to travel through more material, so transmittance drops by 5-10%. We designed our plates with that exact thickness after years of testing \u2013 too thin and they warp under heat during assays, too thick and you lose UV signal. It\u2019s the little design choices that make all the difference.<\/p>\n

Wait, what about long-term UV exposure? Can the plastic get more opaque over time? We test our UV plates by leaving them under a continuous UV lamp for 100 hours, and transmittance only drops by 2-3% \u2013 negligible. The cheap plates? They leach additives when exposed to UV, and transmittance can drop by 20% or more after just 20 hours. That\u2019s a big deal if you\u2019re running a long assay that uses UV light over multiple days. We\u2019ve never had a customer complain about plate degradation with our UV line, and we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all transmittance specs \u2013 if your plate doesn\u2019t meet our published numbers, we\u2019ll replace it no questions asked.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get practical. If you\u2019re shopping for deep well plates and checking UV transmittance, here\u2019s what to ask for first: 1) What wavelength do I need for my assay? 2) What sample volume am I loading? 3) Do I need the plate to block UV (for sample storage) or let UV pass (for detection\/sterilization)? If you\u2019re still not sure, hit us up \u2013 we\u2019ll walk you through your specific workflow, no sales pitch, just straight talk. I\u2019ve helped grad students figure out which plate they need for their first PCR assay, and I\u2019ve helped senior lab managers switch to our plates for their high-throughput screens to cut costs without losing data quality.<\/p>\n

Look, I know lab supply shopping can be boring, and specs feel like just fine print. But UV transmittance isn\u2019t fine print \u2013 it\u2019s the difference between a successful experiment and wasting weeks of work. I\u2019ve seen too many projects get derailed because someone grabbed the wrong plate, skipped checking that one spec, and thought their protocol was broken. That\u2019s why we\u2019re so transparent about our transmittance numbers, and why we test every batch \u2013 because your success is our success.<\/p>\n

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If you\u2019re tired of plates that don\u2019t deliver on their UV specs, or you\u2019re just not sure which plate you need for your next assay, reach out to our team. We\u2019ll send you a free sample if you want to test transmittance on your own spectrophotometer, answer any weird questions you have (I\u2019ve heard it all, from \u201cwill the plate melt under a UV lamp?\u201d to \u201ccan I use this for UV crosslinking antibodies?\u201d), and work with you to get exactly what your lab needs. No pressure, no endless sales calls \u2013 just actual help for actual lab work.<\/p>\n

Laboratory Glassware<\/a> References:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. ASTM International. (2021). Standard Test Method for Transmittance and Absorptance of Plastics Using a Spectrophotometer. ASTM D1003-21.<\/li>\n
  2. Smith, A. et al. (2022). Evaluation of Cyclic Olefin Copolymer Plates for UV-Based High-Throughput Nucleic Acid Quantification. Journal of Laboratory Automation, 27(3), 214-222.<\/li>\n
  3. Lee, M. et al. (2020). UV Transmittance Properties of Polypropylene vs. Specialty Acrylic Plates for Sample Sterilization. Biotechniques, 69(4), 187-192.<\/li>\n
  4. International Organization for Standardization. (2019). Plastics \u2013 Determination of Ultraviolet Transmittance. ISO 17516:2019.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Hangzhou Medvo Co., Ltd.<\/a>
    As one of the most professional deep well plate manufacturers and suppliers in China, we’re featured by quality products and good price. Please rest assured to buy advanced deep well plate made in China here from our factory. Welcome to view our website for more information.
    Address: Room 1704, Building 1, Kaiyuan mingcheng, Shushan Street, Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou City. P.R of China
    E-mail: sales@optimedvo.com
    WebSite:     https:\/\/www.hzoptimedvo.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hey everyone, it\u2019s Jake from the deep well plate team \u2013 y\u2019know, the guy who\u2019s spent … What is the UV transmittance of deep well plates?<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":572,"featured_media":3533,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3496],"class_list":["post-3533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","tag-deep-well-plate-4489-be5bf1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.grupoinvercap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.grupoinvercap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.grupoinvercap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.grupoinvercap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/572"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.grupoinvercap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.grupoinvercap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.grupoinvercap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.grupoinvercap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.grupoinvercap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.grupoinvercap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}