Cleaning Aluminum with Alconox
Q. Which Alconox cleaners can be used on Aluminum?
A. The Alconox brand cleaners recommended for cleaning aluminum are Alconox, Liquinox, Tergazyme, Alcojet, Alcotabs, Detojet, Citranox, Luminox, Citrajet, Solujet and Tergajet. Detergent 8 is not recommended for cleaning aluminum. Aluminum forms a natural passive layer in air that allows it to be successfully cleaned without adverse reactions with cleaner. A passive layer forms in under an hour, provided there is no oily film present. Once the passive layer is formed, the recommended Alconox brand cleaners can be used to clean the aluminum at concentrations of less than 5% at 90 deg C or less for up to one hour.
Cleaning Glassware Exposed to Sea Water
Q. What is the proper way to clean lab glassware that has been exposed to sea water?
A. Sea water contains a large and variable quantity of salts, biological and organic residues. Lab glassware needs to be free of any of these residues to avoid interference in research involving sea water. Sea water would not particularly present challenges beyond the normal array of residues that lab glassware sees in the wide variety of types of lab glassware that Alconox, Inc. laboratory detergents are used to clean. A standard cleaning protocol will work fine.
Cleaning Lidocaine and Dextrose
Q. What Alconox brand cleaner would be best for cleaning Lidocaine and Dextrose?
A. Lidocaine and Dextrose are water soluble 4100 mg/L, pKa 8.01.
Electronics Cleaning – Kovar
Q. What is Kovar? What cleaner would be recommended to clean Kovar?
A. Kovar is made up of 29% nickel, 17% cobalt, .2% silicon, .3% manganese and 53.5% iron. Kovar is known for its low coefficient of thermal expansion. Kovar end uses are usually glass sealing in the electronics industry.
Removing Skin Oils from Materials
Q. Need a suitable detergent for cleaning skin oils from assorted materials; aluminum both anodized and bare, ULTEM, Ceramics, polyprolene, nylon and others. I currently run 160F wash temp and 100F DI rinse water. We are currently using Brulin 815GD detergent. We need to minimize process time. Do you supply any possible replacements? I am afraid I might be etching my aluminum parts.
A. The best detergent for a mix of aluminum and nylon is a mild acid detergent such as Citranox. This will not etch aluminum. Be careful not to mix metals in the same tank with aluminum to avoid galvanic reactions that deposit oxides on the aluminum. Typically Citranox would be used a ½ to 1/3 the concentration of Brulin 815GD.