Can I use any piston I want for my fluid?

It is an engineering truism that there is no single perfect solution, just the best solution for the application at hand. This particularly holds for the syringe barrel pistons used in syringe-fed dispensing systems.

While it is true that a general-purpose piston (see Figure 1) will work effectively in about 90% of applications, certain fluids have characteristics that must be addressed by specialty solutions.

Figure 1: Nordson EFD white SmoothFlow™ pistons are general-purpose pistons designed to work well with 90% of fluids, but other types distinct characteristics that require specialty pistons.

For more information about the different types of syringe barrel pistons for different fluid properties and challenges, see What are the differences between syringe barrel pistons?