One of the most challenging decisions businesses face when creating a new lab is which worksurface top to use.
Yet this choice is also one of the most important decisions you’ll make because lab managers typically want an investment to last as long as possible. Let’s face it, a countertop takes most of the beating in your lab, and it often needs to withstand a variety of chemicals, heat and physical impacts without degrading or failing.
The decision you make now can affect the productivity of your lab years down the road, but what clues can you look for to help you make the right choice for your workspace?
What Protections Does Your Lab Workbench Top Need?
Gone are the days of labs that just use bunsen burners, simple centrifuges and hand-held calculators. Businesses today use a variety of new technology and automated instrumentation, from computers to advanced robotics, liquid handling stations, lasers and high-throughput sequencing machines, to name a few.
Research and development also has led to a significant increase in the number of chemical compounds available to scientists. How do you navigate all of these complexities to figure out which laboratory work surfaces you should use?
The first step is to look at the type of protections your work surfaces need, which includes more closely examining:
- Chemical resistance
- Abrasive resistance
- Moisture resistance
- Heat resistance
Chemical Resistance
If you use chemicals in your lab, your worksurface material has to be able to withstand not only the chemicals you are using now, but also ones you may be using in the future. Chemicals can damage, crack, stain or affect the gloss on your top.
Common chemicals found in labs include acids like hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid, bases such as sodium hydroxide, solvents like acetone and ethanol, and reagents including formaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide.
Each of these substances can have a different impact on various materials, making it crucial to select a work surface that is resistant to a wide range of chemical exposures. Lab countertops that can withstand several chemical types include phenolic resin, epoxy resin and chemical laminate.
Abrasive Resistance
In heavy use applications, your top will get a lot of wear and tear. Abrasive resistance tests are used to determine hardness, brittleness, material failure and stress cracking. Depending on the type of work you will be doing in the lab, you generally want to get a top that has a moderate to high abrasive resistance.
Examples of countertop materials that offer protections against abrasive substances include phenolic resin and epoxy resin. High-pressure laminate offers some abrasion resistance in less demanding applications as well.
Moisture Resistance
For labs that use a lot of liquids, this is very important. When countertops are porous, easily chip or are prone to stress fractures, moisture can seep in and provide an environment for the growth of bacteria and fungus.
Even moisture around sink areas can slowly destroy the substructure of your top. That’s why many labs use countertop materials that offer protection against moisture, including phenolic resin, epoxy resin and stainless steel. Solid surface countertops are often installed near sinks as well because of their non-porous and water-proof features.
Heat Resistance
Continuous use of laboratory instruments and methods that create heat make it important to know the heat resistance of the top you use. Typically, the manufacturer will tell you the maximum temperature and the length of time you can expose the top to before you will see damage.
For example, phenolic resin countertops offer continuous heat exposure up to 350 degrees F, but are not flame retardant. Epoxy resin countertops also offer continuous heat exposure up to 350 degrees F, but are flame retardant. Stainless steel countertops offer continuous heat exposure above 1500 degree F, but may discolor at prolonged high temperatures. Chemical laminate offers some protection against heat, though only up to 275 degrees F.
Cleanability
Many labs require continuous cleaning to ensure the accuracy of their tests and prevent contamination. Countertops must be able to withstand the constant cleaning and use of cleaning agents. The chemical resistance, abrasive resistance and moisture resistance of a laboratory workbench can also impact this factor.
Chemical resistant laminate can withstand acids, bases, salts, halogens, organic chemicals, solvents and biological materials. Phenolic resin and epoxy resin both offer high chemical resistance, while stainless steel offers a moderate level of chemical resistance, making this a great choice if you can use low abrasive, light duty cleaning agents.
Is Electrostatic Discharge A Concern In Your Lab?
If electrostatic discharge is a concern in your lab, you may need to consider purchasing an ESD workbench. Electrostatic
discharge is a natural occurrence in which electricity is passed through the body or other conductor. It then discharges onto another object. If that object is an electronic, the electrostatic discharge can damage it beyond repair.
Static discharge can also ignite flammable mixtures or vapors in laboratories, as well as can attract contaminants in clean environments.
In some cases, manufacturers may not be able to tell if a static charge has damaged an assembled part until they test all components one by one.
ESD furniture is designed to prevent the build-up and discharge of static electricity. Particularly ESD laminate surfaces can help control the rate of static charge dissipation, preventing rapid discharges that could damage sensitive electronic components.
If you install ESD laminate tops on your lab furniture, it’s important to clean them using a particle-free, non-abrasive, damp cloth. Mild soap or a good ammonia detergent, water and plain cotton rag are ideal. Avoid harsh chemicals and steel wool or any material that can scratch or puncture the surface.
What Is Your Budget?
When you are building a lab, budget is always a factor. However, it is important to avoid material that doesn’t meet your needs to save money. In the long run, this decision will cost you more if you have to replace the top prematurely because it doesn’t hold up to your type of usage.
Some countertop materials are more expensive than others. However, if you are familiar with the protections each type of material offers, you can often find a good deal.
For example, phenolic resin and epoxy resin offer many of the same protections, yet one is much less expensive over the other. What’s the main difference? With both offer protection against continuous heat exposure up to 350 degrees F, epoxy resin can handle high levels of heat that you may experience when using open flames.
This added protection will cost you. Epoxy resin countertops typically cost between $100 and $200 per square foot, where phenolic resin countertops average between $15 and $18 per square foot. Prices increase based on modifications specific to your needs.
If your lab doesn’t require the added protection of being flame retardant that epoxy resin offers, you can get an equally high quality material for a fraction of the cost.
Do Your Homework
The bottom line is that it is crucial to do your homework before you buy because purchasing the top for your lab workbench is an investment.
Almost all manufacturers provide technical data sheets that provide the above information. Be sure to ask for them, and don’t make the assumption that all products are the same.
Remember that your best source of information is the manufacturer of the workbench itself. In many cases, a workstation manufacturer has used several of the products on the market and knows which ones are best for you and your application.
