• Clean Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.81-90
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• 2009

In this study various cleaning evaluation methods were tested and comparatively evaluated to help cleaning industry. In order to select alternative cleaning agents objectively and systematically, various cleaning evaluation methods such as gravimetric, optically simulated electron emission (OSEE), contact angle, and analytical instrument methods were employed for cleaning contaminants such as flux, solder and grease. The analytical instruments used in this work were Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The gravimetric method was able to measure cleaning efficiencies easily and simply, but it was not easy to analyze them precisely because of its limitation in the gravimetric measurement. However, the OSEE technique was able to measure quickly and precisely the clean ability of cleaning agents in comparison with the gravimetric method. The contact angle method was found to be necessary for taking special precaution in its application to the cleaning evaluation due to possible formation of tiny organic film on the substrate surface which might be generated from contaminants and cleaning agents. In case of precision analysis that cannot be done by gravimetric method, fine analytical instruments such as UV-VIS, FTIR and HPLC could be used in analyzing trace amount of flux, solder and grease quantitatively, which were extracted from the surface by special solvents.