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Isopropyl Alcohol As A Solvent

Isopropyl Alcohol As A Solvent 

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Can you use isopropyl alcohol as a solvent?  According to The National Library of Medicine, a part of The National Center For Biotechnology  Information, a division of The National Institute of Health (NIH), they define Isopropyl Alcohol as,

“ an  isomer (any of two or more substances that have the same molecular formula but differ in their  connectivity or spatial arrangement of atoms, or in their topology in macromolecules) of propyl  alcohol with antibacterial properties.”

This essentially means that Isopropyl Alcohol is an additive or solvent that has the ability to provide substances with antibacterial properties. IPA can increase the antibacterial effectiveness of the substances it is added to, producing effective antibacterial cleaning agents such as wipes, sprays, or gels that can be used to sanitize surfaces and hands. 

So, can you use isopropyl alcohol as a solvent? 

Yes it can!  And we have seen this become more and more common during the covid-19 pandemic.  IPA is a particularly good solvent to be used in the production of sanitizing products for a few reasons. Typically viruses differ from infectious bacteria but they do share something in common – how they live outside of their host bodies. 

Typically, both bacteria and viruses live inside a membrane that acts as their protector. These bacteria and viruses can live for long periods in their hosts or on surfaces including tables, benches, handles, doors,  floors, etc. IPA-based disinfectants can effectively break down that membrane killing viruses and bacteria.

If you are looking for isopropyl alcohol for solvent purposes, including the production of sanitizers, Ecolink can help. 

Benefits Shopping For Isopropyl Alcohol With Ecolink

  •  Bulk Supply – Ecolink offers convenient bulk quantities. This includes 5- gallon buckets and 55-gallon drums to accommodate facilities of differing sizes and  encourage price saving for ordering in bulk quantities 
  • Expert Knowledge –  The chemists at Ecolink have over 30 years of knowledge and experience to provide our clients and ensure you choose the best chemicals for your applications and understand proper use and storage to keep yourself and your facility safe.
  •  Product Quality –  You can trust that the chemicals you receive from Ecolink are high quality, stable, and safe to handle with proper use. 
  • Environmentally Conscious –  Ecolink offers a  large list of traditional chemicals, but they also offer an environmentally conscious line of green chemical alternatives. Ecolink is dedicated to reducing the carbon footprint of the chemical industry and can help you make your practice more eco-friendly. 

Want To Learn More About Isopropyl Alcohol As A Solvent? 

If you are in need of bulk isopropyl alcohol  Contact Ecolink here to find the best chemicals and solvents for your needs.

IPA Solvent Uses: 4 Examples of Industrial Use

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Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) has a wide variety of uses, from serving as a disinfectant for minor wounds to cleaning a variety of objects and surfaces in industrial settings. In this entry, we focus on the latter area of use, providing three examples of IPA solvent uses in industrial settings. The class of IPA we’re discussing is industrial grade IPA, whose purity exceeds 99%. This level of IPA density is generally unnecessary for commercial and residential IPA applications.

  1. Cleaning General Surfaces

IPA solvent uses include cleaning general surfaces. Types of metal and coated surfaces routinely found in industrial settings are generally unreactive to IPA. However, the cleaner is known to tarnish varnishes and ruin the erasability of dry erase boards.

Varnish and material coating dry erase boards aren’t common in industrial work areas, but IPA’s deleterious effect on these surfaces — an effect that depends partly on the purity of IPA — serve as notice that the compatibility of a material with IPA should be check before the cleaning operation commences.

  1. Cleaning Electronic Components

IPA solvent uses also involve cleaning electronic parts. The list is long, with some of the more popular IPA-cleaned electronic parts and apparatuses being contact pins in ROM cartridges,

magnetic tape, disk heads for legacy floppy disk drives, computer screens, optical disc drive lasers for CDs and DVDs, and IC packages.

What method of IPA deployment should be used to clean these and other components? The answer largely depends on the geometry of a component and where it’s situated in proximity to surrounding components. Due to aerosol particles’ ability to distribute evenly across intricate spatial configurations, IPA in aerosol form is optimal for parts that have complex geometries or are surrounded by parts that make them difficult to access.

  1. Minimizing Solvent Waste

From an industrial user’s standpoint, a potential drawback of IPA solvent uses is the fire hazard they entail. High-purity IPA has an an open cup flashpoint of 11.7°C (53.1°F; 284.8 K) and a closed cup flashpoint of 13°C (55°F).

IPA solutions can be diluted with water and made less flammable. But when it comes to solvent disposal, this isn’t quite the point. Rather, the high evaporation rate of IPA helps it evaporate before it enters the waste trap, especially when high-purity IPA is deployed as aerosol, or in the form of wipes. A potential benefit of IPA solvent use is reduced chemical waste disposal cost.

 

Suppliers for IPA Solvent

If your organization needs industrial IPA solutions for IPA solvent uses, Ecolink has them. We provide different purities of IPA across several IPA-based solutions, offering both stock solutions and custom formulations designed for your unique needs. Before you buy, we’ll send a sample of your stock or custom IPA product so you can test it out.

To get started on selecting a solution for IPA solvent uses, please call us today at (800) 563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. We look forward to supplying solutions for your industrial, business-critical cleaning operations!