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Key Points Summary:

• Novalab ResistopTM is sourced from an internationally recognized market leader in the manufacture of high performance bench top materials.
• Novalab ResistopTM offers the good all round chemical resistance you would expect from a world leading manufacturer.
• Many other solid core products do not posses true chemical resistance even though they are promoted as such.
• Novalab ResistopTM is tested for chemical resistance using test methodology that complies with AS/NZS 2924.1: 1998 and therefore meets New Zealand standards.

 

Product Assessment Process

Novalab Resistop

Whilst solid core bench tops from different manufacturers may look the same, their performance differs widely in laboratory applications. Please read the following to find out why the bench top product you may be offered is not the same as Novalab Resistop, in spite of many claims made to the contrary, and why many products are not tested to New Zealand standards.
 
Product Search: 
Our goals were simple: To provide the New Zealand market with a cost effective, solid core laboratory work top that would stand up to the day to day challenges of a wide range of New Zealand laboratories. There is no single internationally accepted chemical resistance testing standard for laboratory bench tops so test samples were collected from every manufacturer we could find who claimed to have a chemically resistant, solid core laboratory bench product. Samples came from manufacturers in places such as Malaysia, India, Europe, China and North America.
 
Initial Testing:
Our initial testing method involved 24 hr continuous exposure to the type of chemicals usually found in school laboratories.

• Silver Nitrate Solution
• Potassium Permanganate Solution
• Iodine Solution
• 2 Molar Sulphuric Acid
• 2 Molar Hydrochloric Acid
• 2 Molar Nitric Acid
• 2 Molar Sodium Hydroxide Solution

Our initial aim was to find products that would stand up to this test as a minimum standard for our local applications.
 
Surprising Results: 
Very few products actually passed this initial test. The overwhelming evidence pointed to the majority of products actually having limited chemical resistance. In almost all cases the data supplied with the products that failed this test clearly stated a list of chemicals that had to be removed immediately or within 15 minutes to avoid damage or staining. We feel that our conclusion here is reasonably obvious:
 
- Manufacturers of products that have true chemical resistance tend to publish test data that involves full 16 to 24 hrs exposure to all test chemicals and report the results of any surface damage or staining. This is in compliance with the test methodology set out in AS/NZS 2924.1:1998.
- Products with limited chemical resistance tend to publish test data not in compliance with New Zealand standards and list chemicals that should be removed immediately or within 15 minutes to avoid damage. In almost all cases, if these products where tested to New Zealand standards, the published data would have to list results such as severe staining, surface damage, pitting or craters. 
 
 
Typical 24 Hour Test Results For Products With Limited Chemical Resistance

Stability Testing
Our next step was to assess mechanical stability for products that passed our initial chemical resistance testing. In most cases the products stated that they were resistant to delamination but were not suitable for use outdoors – so we tested them. New Zealand weather conditions are notorious for high UV, hot days, cool nights and lots of rain. Putting these samples out doors would provide a rapid assessment of the product’s ability to stand up to long term laboratory conditions with regard to heat cycling, water contact and U.V. degradation.
 
 
After 6 months trial results some of the products clearly showed signs of delamination. 

There was a clear winner in this process. The chemical resistant product supplied by Arborite of Canada had passed all our assessment processes and is the product we now market as Novalab Resistop TM.
 

 
Novalab Resistop

• Superior Chemical Resistance
• Better Structural Stability
• Proven Performance
• Affordable Price