Detergents for Cleaning Tantalum

Q. I visited the Alconox booth at MDM East in New York and wanted to follow up our conversation about cleaning tantalum. Does the detergent recommendation change if we do automated vs. manual cleaning?

A. Tantalum cannot be cleaned with classic high alkaline cleaners that contain sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. It is recommended to clean tantalum with mild alkaline or acid cleaners.

For manual cleaning of tantalum, we would recommend using a 1% solution (10 mL/L) of mild alkaline Liquinox followed by a thorough rinse. For automated cleaning of tantalum we would recommend using a 1% solution (10 mL/L) of mild acid, low foaming Citrajet.

Consult our  Liquinox and Citrajet SDS and Technical Bulletins for more information.  We also have a white paper on medical device cleaning applications available HERE for download. Samples are also available HERE upon request.