I am in possession of some organic crystals grown by OMBD into a silicone oil film on top of an Si wafer (see paper linked below). A similar procedure has also been attempted using an ionic liquid film instead of the silicone oil. Now I want to remove the film in order to obtain clean crystals with as little film residue as possible.
Simply waiting for the films to evaporate in vacuum or ambient is not really an option, it takes far too long and always seems to leave residues. What chemicals might be suitable for removing the silicone oil or ionic liquid without damaging the organic crystals?
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It depends on what Ionic Liquid you are using. Some are UHV compatible and have extremely low vapor pressure. I had good success with water or ethanol for a general clean in the past, but I found it very difficult to remove the last film residue.
Hi Alrun,
To remove silicone oil you can try hexane or petroleum ether.
Check also the chart attached and this discussion: https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_to_clean_up_the_silicone_oil_eg_dimethyl_siloxane_of_beakers_after_oil-bath_heating
Cheers Marius for the hint, I‘ll give the hexane a shot!
@Guy: I am using vacuum-compatible ionic liquids and also tried to wash that away with water or pull the crystals out with a micromanipulator. But I get the same problem you have with small residues. Since I want to do conductivity tests on the crystals afterwards, those residues get me into a lot of trouble.
Article A new way of removing silicone oil from the surface of silic...
Xylene dissolves the silicone but I don't know what kind of organic crystal you're talking about.
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