paimeiguel
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cleaning glass microfluidic channels
Hi everyone!
I want to clean my glass microchannels after they get clogged with dust that looks fiber-like, so I am assuming it is either from paper or cloth. Any
suggestions? I have tried the usuals: NaOH, HCl. But none of them has convining dissolving results... any ideas?
The channels are made in fused silica with an insulating layer of silicon
oxynitride. Thaks for the help!
Do you think plasma cleaning might work even if the channels are not directly in the surface?
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White Yeti
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Will piranha solution do the trick? I'm not sure what it would do to silicon oxynitride, but it seems like you're looking for a last resort. Piranha
solution is a 3:1 mix of concentrated sulfuric acid to 30% hydrogen peroxide. If you don't have sulfuric acid, you can try base piranha, a similar
mix, but with concentrated ammonia instead of sulfuric acid.
"Ja, Kalzium, das ist alles!" -Otto Loewi
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smaerd
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concentrated sulfuric acid will eat away paper towels very easily probably also cloth.
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Eddygp
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yep. A good mixture I sometimes use is 40% sulfuric acid, 40% HCl and 20% H2O2
there may be bugs in gfind
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watson.fawkes
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Whatever cleaning reagent you use, you'll have a secondary issue of getting fresh solution in and spent solution out. Since the channels are so tiny,
you'll not be able to rely upon diffusion to get the cleaner in contact with the contaminant. Some combination of ultrasonic agitation, gravity, and
suction may be required. I wouldn't recommend using pressure.
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Eddygp
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Yeah, careful, be sure it won't damage the object... Pressure would probably crack it.
there may be bugs in gfind
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White Yeti
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Would centrifugation also be a viable option?
"Ja, Kalzium, das ist alles!" -Otto Loewi
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watson.fawkes
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I would hesitate to try that. The forces involve could be
rather higher than the unit would readily withstand.
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GreenD
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it may be an idea just to heat it slowly to high temperature... perhaps around 200-220C° followed by an above cleaning solution
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Keepin' it real.
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