4 ms·

Would love to know the ancillary stuff like waste disposal. Playing with this stuff without making a new superfund site is arguably just as difficult as the co

Would love to know the ancillary stuff like waste disposal. Playing with this stuff without making a new superfund site is arguably just as difficult as the core work.

parsecs 5y ago
I believe Sam avoids using anything that's super awful to deal with. There's well defined procedures for taking care of most chemicals that involve neutralizing them sufficiently to be flushed down the drain
- monocasa 5y ago
  Even the specifics there of what subset of materials gets you to making chips without disposal issues would be super interesting to me. It's a complex space to navigate, and shrouded a bit in mystery and trade secrets.
perihelions 5y ago
The "HF" doesn't stand for "high five!"?
- jwbwater 5y ago
  HF is no big deal, haven't you watched breaking bad? Piece of cake, just use plastic containers. What could go wrong?
  - s0rce 5y ago
    Its actually easy to dispose of, just neutralize with calcium carbonate (forms safe insoluble calcium fluoride) and dispose of down the drain or in the trash. Just don't get it in on your skin in the process. There are other options to neutralize as well.
- ncmncm 5y ago
  I was surprised to find that 1% dilute HF is both adequate to purpose, and safe to handle.
  - kragen 5y ago
    Safe is relative. I'm such a genius that I managed to injure myself doing a reaction with a single reagent, namely, making amorphous plastic sulfur. I accidentally caught the sulfur on fire, you see. If you ever find yourself in this situation, resist the temptation to try to blow it out; you will regret inhaling near a sulfur fire.
  - xnormal 5y ago
    Low concentration HF is frequently uses in artistic glass etching. With reasonable precautions it’s not more dangerous than cleaning your drain with caustic soda. Just don’t be stupid.
    - ncmncm 5y ago
      What matters is that if you splash some on your hand, you have time to rinse it off before the flesh melts off your bones.
      - wuschel 5y ago
        Tl;dr Don’t listen to amateur forum advice, get informed at professional level. Long: Please, In general I suggest for anyone dealing with chemicals to read the safety sheets to the very least and ask for professional advice. Very often you will find second order effects at play (teratogenic, cancerogenic, allergogenic, er cetera), as well as dangerous surprises that can await you in reactions. HF is a very nasty chemical that not only does funny stuff to your bones but can kill you making your breathing stop. Rinsing off your hand does not help in this case, you will need to get a specialised treatment in hospital. We lost two students at the University of Marburg in Germany to HF exposure.
        ncmncm 5y ago
akanet 5y ago
I recently visited the Berkeley Nanolab. As I recall, the main waste products are either acids that are neutralized before being returned to the city sewer system, or exotic gases that are vented in dilute enough quantities to be safe.
- monocasa 5y ago
  To be clear, my comment isn't a callout; I unironically believe that it's explicitly being addressed. I'd just find a writeup around the subject interesting.
- tingletech 5y ago
  the campus runs its own sewer since 1867. Feeds into East Bay MUD.

Would love to know the ancillary stuff like waste disposal. Playing with this stuff without making a new superfund site is arguably just as difficult as the core work.

parsecs 5y ago

I believe Sam avoids using anything that's super awful to deal with. There's well defined procedures for taking care of most chemicals that involve neutralizing them sufficiently to be flushed down the drain

monocasa 5y ago
Even the specifics there of what subset of materials gets you to making chips without disposal issues would be super interesting to me. It's a complex space to navigate, and shrouded a bit in mystery and trade secrets.

perihelions 5y ago

The "HF" doesn't stand for "high five!"?

jwbwater 5y ago
HF is no big deal, haven't you watched breaking bad? Piece of cake, just use plastic containers. What could go wrong?
- s0rce 5y ago
  Its actually easy to dispose of, just neutralize with calcium carbonate (forms safe insoluble calcium fluoride) and dispose of down the drain or in the trash. Just don't get it in on your skin in the process. There are other options to neutralize as well.
ncmncm 5y ago
I was surprised to find that 1% dilute HF is both adequate to purpose, and safe to handle.
- kragen 5y ago
  Safe is relative. I'm such a genius that I managed to injure myself doing a reaction with a single reagent, namely, making amorphous plastic sulfur. I accidentally caught the sulfur on fire, you see. If you ever find yourself in this situation, resist the temptation to try to blow it out; you will regret inhaling near a sulfur fire.
- xnormal 5y ago
  Low concentration HF is frequently uses in artistic glass etching. With reasonable precautions it’s not more dangerous than cleaning your drain with caustic soda. Just don’t be stupid.
  - ncmncm 5y ago
    What matters is that if you splash some on your hand, you have time to rinse it off before the flesh melts off your bones.
    - wuschel 5y ago
      Tl;dr Don’t listen to amateur forum advice, get informed at professional level. Long: Please, In general I suggest for anyone dealing with chemicals to read the safety sheets to the very least and ask for professional advice. Very often you will find second order effects at play (teratogenic, cancerogenic, allergogenic, er cetera), as well as dangerous surprises that can await you in reactions. HF is a very nasty chemical that not only does funny stuff to your bones but can kill you making your breathing stop. Rinsing off your hand does not help in this case, you will need to get a specialised treatment in hospital. We lost two students at the University of Marburg in Germany to HF exposure.
      - ncmncm 5y ago

akanet 5y ago

I recently visited the Berkeley Nanolab. As I recall, the main waste products are either acids that are neutralized before being returned to the city sewer system, or exotic gases that are vented in dilute enough quantities to be safe.

monocasa 5y ago
To be clear, my comment isn't a callout; I unironically believe that it's explicitly being addressed. I'd just find a writeup around the subject interesting.
tingletech 5y ago
the campus runs its own sewer since 1867. Feeds into East Bay MUD.