The type of ELISA test you are using will dictate what kind of plate best suits your experimental needs. Microplates are made from a variety of materials, in differing sizes, colors, coatings and styles. The global market accounts for hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
Commonly, the plates are disposable, made of polystyrene, and either black, white, clear, or some combination thereof. In all practicality the type of plate you choose should be what the devices in your laboratory are capable of reading. In recent years, many microplate readers on the market are what is known as ‘multi-modal’, meaning that they can read the results of absorbance (for colorimetric assays) , luminescence, or fluorescence. This flexibility gives the researcher far fewer limitations and allows each lab to make changes to common experimental procedures to achieve optimal results. Often, well-prepared ELISA kits will have recommendations of what kind of plate that should be used by the researcher. AAT Bioquest provides these recommendations for both our standardized kits and will work with you for your specific needs for custom ELISA development.