Cuvette

Analyses are performed by using a conventional scanning spectrophotometer and the usual laboratory cuvette (special vial) that fits into the sample cavity of the instrument.

[7] Fingerprints and droplets of water disrupt light rays during measurement, so low-lint gauze or cloth may be used to wipe clean the outer surface of a cuvette before use.

Acid and alkali are avoided due to their corrosive effects on glass, and acetone is unsuitable when working with plastic cuvettes.

Glass, plastic and quartz cuvettes are all suitable for measurements made at longer wavelengths, such as in the visible light range.

"Tandem cuvettes" have a glass barrier medium that extends two-thirds of the way up in the middle, so that measurements can be taken with two solutions separated and again when they are mixed.

Plastic cuvettes with a usable wavelength range of 380–780 nm (the visible spectrum) may be disposed of after use, preventing contamination from re-use.

Disposable cuvettes can be used in some laboratories where the beam light is not high enough to affect the absorption tolerance and consistency of the value.

Glass cuvettes are typically for use in the wavelength range of visible light, whereas fused quartz tends to be used for ultraviolet applications.

[10] In 1934, James Franklin Hyde created a combined silica cell, which was free from other extraneous elements, as a liquefying technique of other glass products.

As innovation motivated changes in technique, cuvettes were constructed to have focal points over ordinary test tubes.