Solvents for the immersion oil are carbon tetrachloride, ethyl ether, Freon TF, Heptane, Methylene Chloride, Naptha, Turpentine, Xylene, and toluene.
What is the best of these to clean the surface? Toluene? Heptane? I'd like to stay away from more dangerous chemicals if possible and have something that evaporates easily.
We used just an 96% ethanol and lintless wipers/applicators/pads etc. So nothing special (1.61 Cargill series A immersion oil - yours is probably around 1.5 with a higher content of organic solvents).
Worth to be noticed is that the immersion oil supplier (Cargille-Sacher Laboratories Inc.) simply suggests xylene to be used as solvent (referred to as 'xylol'): http://www.cargille.com/immersionoilmicroscope.shtml
The supplier’s suggestion is based at a contribution by John J. Cargille for the “New York Microscopical Society Yearbook” of 1964, entitled "Immersion oil and the microscope" (2nd ed. 1985).
Due to the relatively high toxicity, there is a recent tendency to avoid xylene use as solvent when safer alternatives can be considered. Moreover, it is prone to leave residue after drying.
Binary solvent mixtures ─ obtained by adding about 85 vol% of petroleum ether, pentane, n-hexane, or ligroin (predominantly C7 to C11 n-paraffins), to isopropyl alcohol (around 15 %) ─ can efficiently substitute for xylene. The secondary solvent helps to avoid possible drying marks that otherwise could be leaved by insoluble residue.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Physical Sciences
- Optics