Do we need to choose glove boxes made of different materials for different experiments?
Different materials of glove boxes are suitable for different experiments. If the material of the glove box is selected incorrectly, the material of the glove box may react with the experimental items during specific experiments or production processes, resulting in inaccurate experimental results and even danger.
Selection of Glove Box Material
For example, in chip manufacturing, various corrosive chemical reagents are used for cleaning, etching, and other processes. In this case, it is recommended to choose a stainless steel glove box. Stainless steel material has strong corrosion resistance, such as strong acids like hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid. The stainless steel glove box can resist the corrosion of these chemicals by forming a dense passivation film on its own, ensuring that the glove box structure remains intact for a long time, preventing the leakage of impurity gases caused by corrosion pores, maintaining the purity of the internal environment, and ensuring the yield of chips.
If acrylic glove boxes are used in chip manufacturing, the chemical reagents used in the semiconductor manufacturing process will corrode the acrylic material, causing swelling and deformation, and the sealing performance will be severely damaged; In addition, acrylic has a high coefficient of thermal expansion and is prone to deformation when exposed to high temperatures, leading to seal failure. These factors can disrupt the entire chip manufacturing process and seriously affect chip quality.
Glove material selection
Glove boxes generally use gloves made of butyl rubber material, because butyl rubber gloves have good chemical corrosion resistance, good air and water tightness, as well as excellent elasticity and wear resistance. During operation, they can effectively block impurities from entering the glove box, maintain the purity and sealing of the environment inside the glove box, and can also flexibly operate experimental items inside the glove box through gloves.
For example, in semiconductor manufacturing, when using chemical reagents to clean chips or wet etching, butyl rubber gloves can prevent impurities such as dust and grease from contaminating the indoor environment. Their good flexibility can also accurately operate the experimental process inside the glove box.
If latex gloves are used, due to their poor chemical stability, they are prone to aging, hardening, and cracking when in contact with chemical reagents in semiconductor manufacturing environments. The sealing of the glove interface is ineffective, and external impurities can easily invade and contaminate the chip material. At the same time, harmful chemicals in the chip production process may also leak out, endangering the health of operators and causing serious damage to the ultra clean environment of chip manufacturing, affecting product quality.
Window Material Selection
For example, in the field of nuclear applications, lead glass should be chosen as the window material. In the process of nuclear applications, radioactive materials are often involved, such as nuclear fuel processing, radioactive isotope research, etc., which generate a large amount of high-energy radiation such as alpha rays, beta rays, gamma rays, etc. Lead glass has the characteristic of high density, which can effectively block these radioactive rays and greatly reduce the harm of radiation to operators. Operators can also observe the operation inside the glove box clearly and safely through lead glass windows, accurately control various experimental instruments and tools, and perform operations such as processing and transferring radioactive samples.
Is it feasible to choose tempered glass as the window material in the field of nuclear applications? Although tempered glass has high strength and can remain intact and not easily broken in general collision situations, it is powerless in the face of nuclear radiation. Radioactive radiation can penetrate tempered glass and directly irradiate operators, causing irreversible damage to human cells and tissues.
It is even less recommended to choose organic glass (acrylic) material as the window of the nuclear glove box. On the one hand, organic glass has poor chemical resistance, and on the other hand, its ability to block radiation is almost negligible. In addition, organic glass has a large coefficient of thermal expansion. During the operation of nuclear facilities, due to energy conversion, heat dissipation and other reasons, the ambient temperature may fluctuate greatly, and the organic glass window will frequently deform due to thermal expansion and contraction. Using acrylic material as the glove box window not only fails to effectively isolate radiation, but also affects its sealing performance.
In summary, different industries will consider their own production processes and experimental characteristics when choosing glove boxes, and make reasonable choices for the material of glove boxes; The significant performance differences of different materials directly determine whether production can proceed smoothly, whether experiments can be carried out safely, and the quality of products. When selecting glove boxes, various industries must fully consider their own needs and choose suitable glove box materials.
