Stirring Bars and Rods
Products of various sizes, shapes, and material compositions designed to aid in manual or automatic stirring of laboratory solutions. Includes glass stirring rods, magnetic stir bars, and stir bar retrievers.
What Is a Magnetic Stir Bar?
Magnetic stir bars are stirrers or stirring hotplates used with magnets to mix a liquid or solution by creating a vortex.
A number of factors affect magnetic stir bar efficiency and effectiveness, including its size, shape, and material. Sizes (L x Diameter) range from 2 x 2 mm to 159 x 27 mm and shapes include:
- Polygonal or octagonal magnetic stir bars are the most common shapes; the multiple surfaces add turbulence to the mixing action
- Elliptical or egg-shapped stir bars work especially well with round-bottom flasks
- Wedge-shaped spin bars produce more significant turbulence for dissolving salts or in samples containing sediment
- Spin bars with fins or vanes, designed for smaller vessels, tubes, or cuvettes
- Micro (“flea”) stir bars for mixing extremely small samples
What Kind of Magnet Is Used?
Stir bar magnets are typically made from Alnico, a combination of aluminum and nickel. They may also be made from Samarium cobalt, a rare earth metal that produces the stronger magnetic force needed to mix very viscous substances.
Stir bar magnets are usually encapsulated in white or colored PTFE, hard plastic, or borosilicate glass, and coatings may meet FDA grade or USP requirements. PTFE is durable, inert, and can be autoclaved. Glass-encased cylindrical magnets are useful for high-temperature applications.
How Does It Work?
During the stirring process, integral or removable pivot rings on the stir bar reduce contact with the vessel to help avoid marring plastic surfaces. Some round stir bars have slightly raised ends that create a de facto pivot point, while others have more pronounced round centers that help to keep them in motion. Stir bars may be reusable or disposable.
Magnetic stir bars may be sold individually or in magnetic stir bar kits that include multiple bars in a range of sizes.
COWIE TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION STIRBAR RETRIEVER 350MM X 10MM
NC2462854 STIRBAR RETRIEVER 350MM X 10MM
BIG SCIENCE INC STIR BARS DBL CROSSHEAD 5/PK
Stir Bars Height 13 mm, Diameter 17 mm CROSSHEAD, Double 5 pack
Hach Company Stir Bar, 8 x 3 mm - replacement for 5500sc Ammonia Monochloramine Analyzer
Replacement magnetic stir bar for use with the 5500sc Ammonia Monochloramine Analyzer. It provides consistent mixing in the sample chamber to support accurate, continuous measurements; regular replacement is recommended to maintain analyzer performance.
- Dimensions: 8 x 3 mm.
- Suggested replacement schedule: 6 months.
- Material: not specified by the manufacturer.
- Function: maintains proper mixing in the sample chamber.
Chemglass Life Sciences Chemglass Stirring Bar, Plain PTFE Magnetic, 30 x 6 mm, for Magnetic Stirrers
The Chemglass Stirring Bar (plain) is a PTFE-coated magnetic stir bar sized 30 x 6 mm, designed for reliable mixing in laboratory vessels. Its plain profile creates more turbulence compared with cylindrical bars at low speeds, improving mixing efficiency on magnetic stir plates.
- PTFE construction provides chemical resistance and temperature stability.
- Plain shape increases turbulence at low stirring speeds.
- Dimensions: 30 x 6 mm, suitable for small-to-medium vessels.
- Magnetic core for use with magnetic stir plates.
- Sold individually (each).
Hach Company Stir Bar-Magnetic
For stirring in extremely small containers Length 3 81 cm (1 5in ) diameter 0 79 cm (0 31in ) Bel-Art