Aqueous‐based cleaning with hydrogen peroxide

Abstract

The pharmaceutical, military, and fine chemical industries have expressed much interest in eliminating organic solvents from their cleaning operations. Waste organic‐cleaning solvents such as acetone, toluene, and methanol have been characterized as hazardous or toxic wastes. As a substitute, 3% hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was found to effectively clean tenacious residues off glass surfaces. This testing evaluated both moderately elevated pH conditions and iron‐based catalysts. Results revealed that 100% of an asphalt residue could be removed from glass surfaces within 105 min when it was submerged in a 3% H₂O₂ solution at pH 9.5 and ambient temperature. Furthermore, the asphalt residue could be completely removed within 45–60 min if the H₂O₂ solution also included 10^‐3 M FeCl₃.