A Quick Guide to PEEK Tubing

Over the years, many of the chromatography laboratories throughout the country have relied on stainless steel tubing. But in more recent times, many of these labs have started to replace this type of tubing with PEEK tubing.

If your lab is still relying on stainless steel tubing, you might want to consider making the move to PEEK tubing. PEEK tubes have started to become the preferred tubing material for those who work with different liquids and gases in lab settings.

You’ll have plenty of tubing options for your lab. But you should learn more about PEEK tubing and the benefits of PEEK tubing to see if it would be right for you. Discover more about this type of tubing below.

What Is PEEK Tubing?

The “PEEK” in PEEK tubing is short for Poly Ether Ether Ketone. This kind of tubing has become popular in chromatography labs and other scientific settings over time.

Although some labs continue to use stainless steel tubing, PEEK tubing is beginning to replace it because it’s biocompatible and is known to be chemically inert to most of the solvents that are utilized in lab settings.

PEEK tubing has also been put into use in labs early and often because of its flexibility and the smooth internal surface that it has on the inside. This leads to a lot less turbulence than you’ll find inside other kinds of tubing.

What Are the Benefits of PEEK Tubing?

We just alluded to a few of the biggest benefits of using PEEK tubing over other tubing options. But the benefits don’t stop there. It’s a big part of the reason why so many labs have replaced stainless steel tubing with PEEK tubing.

Here are a few of the other benefits that’ll come along with using this kind of tubing in your lab:

• It’s able to absorb a lot of heat, which makes it extra resistant to thermal degradation
• It’s capable of withstanding high pressures of up to 10,000 PSI
• It’s equipped with a very high strength-to-weight ratio compared to other thermoplastics

But one of the biggest benefits of PEEK tubing of all is that it can easily be cut right in a lab setting. You’ll appreciate the fact that you can trim it down to whatever size you need it to be based on how you plan to utilize PEEK tubing.

How Do You Cut PEEK Tubing?

Cutting PEEK tubing is so simple to do. You will, however, need to know how to go about doing it and have the right tools at your disposal to get the job done.

When you order PEEK tubing, it’s typically going to arrive rough cut and will need to be trimmed before you begin using it. To do this, you’ll need to decide what size you would like for it to be and then use a special PEEK tubing cutter to make a clean cut in it.

A good PEEK tubing cutter will have guide holes that will help you make an accurate cut every time. It’ll make it possible for you to make a 90-degree cut in PEEK tubing without a problem so that you can start using it right away.

When Should PEEK Tubing Not Be Used?

Although PEEK tubing can be used in most laboratory settings thanks to its versatility, there are some solvents that you’ll want to keep away from this kind of tubing. If you attempt to run them through PEEK tubing, it could cause complications.

Here are the solvents that you should avoid using when it comes to PEEK tubing:

• Nitric acid
• Sulfuric acid
• Hydrofluoric acid
• Hydrobromic acid
• Pure halogenated gases

You’ll also want to steer clear of using PEEK tubing for things like methylene chloride, tetrahydrofuran (THF), and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Using the wrong types of solvents in PEEK tubing could prove to be problematic and should be avoided at all costs.

Where Can You Obtain PEEK Tubing?

Now that you know all about PEEK tubing and the benefits it has to offer, you might be curious as to where you can obtain it. There are quite a few places that can provide you with the PEEK tubing you need.

You should shop around for PEEK tubing online so that you’re able to get the right amount of it for the right price. You should also search for a PEEK tubing supplier that’s going to be able to get this kind of tubing to your lab ASAP so that you can begin putting it to good use.

Buying high-quality PEEK tubing will be of the utmost importance. It’ll ensure that the PEEK tubing you use on a regular basis will be able to stand up to whatever you might throw at it in your lab in the years to come.

Order PEEK Tubing for Your Laboratory Today

Those who work in chromatography labs have come to love what PEEK tubing can provide for them. If you work in a lab and haven’t tried it out yet, now would be the best time to do it.

It won’t take you long to start enjoying all the benefits of PEEK tubing. You’ll quickly see why it has become so popular and wonder why you didn’t decide to use it to replace your stainless steel tubing sooner.

Would you like to find out about other products that might be able to help you do your job better? Read through our other blog articles to get information on them.