What are the Different Types of Burettes?

Burettes are long, calibrated glass tubes that are used to dispense and quantify a wide variety of chemical solutions. The instrument has a stopcock on its lower end with a stopcock valve attached to it. The valve is used to control the amount of liquid flowing through the burette. Burettes are mostly used to perform experiments involving titrations.

Titration is used to measure the concentration of a particular chemical compound by gradually adding a neutralizing substance. The substance is added drop-by-drop via a magnetic stirrer till it completely reacts with the compound. Usually, the end-point of such a reaction is a change in either acidity or pH of the mixture, indicated by a chemical indicator that causes a color change.

Various types of burettes are currently available in the market on the basis of level of automation, type of material and intended use. Broadly, they can be classified into the following types:

Manual / Volumetric Burettes: Volumetric burettes are graduated for volume measurement and have stopcocks with dispenser tubes. A manual burette can either be made of glass or plastic, having a fixed clamp in an iron stand. There is generally a push-button that allows for dropwise dispensing of the liquid.
Digital Burettes: Such types of burettes can be operated manually (by hand spinning) or through the use of batteries. A digital burette is generally a syringe-based design with the plunger and barrel made of glass/plastic. The barrel is held in a fixed position and the plunger moves by rotating the knob manually or using a step motor. A digital display on the top of the burette shows the volume of the liquid. Some digital burettes also have highly advanced features, such as LCD screens, recirculation systems and digital interfaces for recording data.
Electronic or E-Burettes: An E-burette features an electronic control panel, an electronic display, as well as a motorized piston. It is basically an upgrade of the digital burette as it eliminates various issues associated with it, specifically involving manual dispensing. As it is a motor-operated device, it is highly accurate in dispensing liquids, as it eliminates human intervention.

Which burette should you buy for your lab?

A volumetric burette might be an economical and effective choice for some academic institutions, including middle or high school labs. However, for fast-paced lab environments, one must opt for an E-burette given the accuracy and efficiency offered by the instrument.

MICROLIT E-BURETTE is a state-of-the-art motorized burette that is power packed with advanced features and functionalities. It is a highly precise and reliable instrument compatible with a wide range of chemicals. The design of the burette is extremely ergonomic and intuitive. The product conforms to ISO 8655 regulations and is GLP compliant, therefore you can be assured of its high-quality standards. It finds application across several industries, including pharmaceuticals, Food & Beverages, and Environmental Monitoring.

Created by Microlit’s in-house team of product design engineers, it can be easily calibrated inside the lab without the need for an external calibration tool. Our team also makes sure that each model is individually calibrated. Some of its various features include:

Motor Controlled Piston Movement
A touch screen enabled Control Panel with Graphical User Interface (GUI)
3 Calibrated Pre-Set Speeds for highly accurate titrations

MICROLIT E-Burette will let you:

Choose from Three Different Variants: The E-Burette is available in three different variants: 10 ml, 25 ml and 50 ml.
Work with 3 Calibrated Pre-set Speeds: The device is highly flexible and can be operated at 3 calibrated Pre-set Speeds, such as dropwise dispensing for accurate results.
Re-direct Reagents via Recirculation Mode: The instrument is equipped with a Recirculation Mode feature, which helps prevent the loss of reagents while purging and facilitating bubble-free dispensing.
Operate Seamlessly with Motor Control: Motor operated piston enables easy and accurate titration experiments. In addition to being convenient, it eliminates human error associated with manually operated burettes.
Save Results: The E-Burette has the option to get connected to a computer, and thus, has the capability to store approximately 20 results for future reference.
Dispense Easily with FlexiNozzle Technology: Microlit’s cutting-edge FlexiNozzle technology offers an adjustable delivery nozzle, which makes the equipment greatly flexible, as well as enables comfortable dispensing in hectic laboratory environments.
Perform Fast Titrations through Touchscreen: The device features a user-friendly TFT Touchscreen that acts as a guide for fast and precise titrations. The screen can display numeric data up to the second decimal, enhancing the overall accuracy of the experimental data.
Perform Advance Functions: A highly powerful and robust Control Panel is the head and heart of the burette as it controls and directs all the major functions of the instrument. These functions include performing a zero reset, automatically re-fill without changing the reading, and switching the instrument on / off and others.