Centrifuges are crucial research tools present in most laboratories, used to accelerate the sedimentation process in samples containing substances of different densities. This separation method can be used anywhere from clinical settings to separate blood or in research spaces to purify cells, viruses, proteins, and nucleic acids.
When selecting a centrifuge for your laboratory, there are several factors that will help guide which one is right for your experimental needs. You might have footprint limitations and opt for a benchtop centrifuge. Maybe you need to have temperature control to handle biomolecules, so you are exploring refrigerated centrifuges. In other cases, you might have the need to centrifuge liters at a time.
Below, you will find summarized feedback on centrifuges based on these characteristics of sample volume, size, temperature regulation, and more.
Microcentrifuges
Microcentrifuges—also known as microfuges—are generally capable of accommodating volumes ranging between .5 to 2 mL, with moderate velocity. They are normally compact, have a small footprint, and are characterized by having a fast acceleration and deceleration. Main applications are protein concentration, and any sample that requires short spins.
A microcentrifuge that has been well received by our product reviewers is the Labnet Prism Microcentrifuge. Alexis Brumwell, a research associate at the University of California in San Francisco, said “This is a decent centrifuge for the price.” She also cautions that “Problems with the lid sealing,” can occur.
Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland Tramy Hoan added, “This is a good standard microcentrifuge that is fairly cheap. Control knobs are kind of outdated, and the speed can only be set in RPM. The 1.5 mL rotor will not hold other tubes of similar size, including 2 mL tubes and certain spin columns.”
Benchtop Centrifuges
Useful for many research needs, benchtop centrifuges are a broad class of centrifuges similar to microfuges in that they have smaller footprints. However, they can handle volumes as low as under 1 mL, and as high as a few liters. Their speed capacities are also variable.
The ThermoFisher Sorvall Legend X1 Centrifuge has consistently received positive reviews by our product investigators. Meng Sun, a lab technician at John Hopkins School of Medicine, said that she “Definitely recommends purchasing if anyone is looking for plate centrifuge.”
Similarly, Anup Kumar, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School, added that its a “Good centrifuge with easy and fast temperature settings as well as highly durable.”
Refrigerated Centrifuges
Perfect for handling samples that may be temperature sensitive, such as live cells or proteins, refrigerated centrifuges often feature interchangeable rotors and adaptors in order to accommodate a wide range of sample volumes.
Between our product investigators, the Eppendorf’s Centrifuge 5810 R was a crowd favorite.
The Eppendorf Centrifuge 5810 R has been described by Queens University postdoctoral fellow Matthew Ratsep as an “Excellent lab centrifuge. Our model has holders for 15 mL tubes, 50 mL tubes, and multi-well plates. The plate holder is particularly useful, as other labs will use our centrifuge just for this feature. It also has a safety feature that will shut off if it detects an unbalanced load.” Ariola Bardhi, a Ph.D. student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, added that its “Great equipment.”
Vacuum Centrifuge / Concentrators
Concentrators—or vacuum centrifuges—use centrifugal force, vacuum, temperature, and/or gas to remove liquid solvent for the concentration of samples. They can be ideal for the preparation of biomolecules such as peptides, nucleic acids, and proteins.
Between our product reviewers, Eppendorf’s Concentrator plus has received 5 star reviews for ease-of-optimization and overall usage. Tim Schelfhorst, a research technician at the VU University Medical Center, said that “It's a great benchtop concentrator (vacuum centrifuge). Easy to set up out of the box (5 mins) and works like a charm. Plates could be a bit better though.”
Zac Chen, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, also mentioned how easy it is to operate, added “I would recommend this speedvac for a lab that works a lot with mass spec sample prep.”
Clinical Benchtop Centrifuges
These centrifuges are compact, low-speed centrifuges, used for the separation of whole blood components and other samples such as plasma, red blood cells, and serum. Because they are used to process bodily fluids, they can accommodate common blood draw tubes.
Our product reviewers have provided good feedback for the Beckman Coulter Microfuge. Dawei Jiang, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin, said that “The Microfuge 20R provides a very good centrifugation for different samples.”
Christopher England, also a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin, added that “The instrument works well and we have never had any problems with our samples.”
More information
To read more feedback on centrifuges and general lab equipment, read our product reviews.