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Chemical resistance of 18/8

I wanted to use a stainless steel basket made from 18/8 to hold parts submerge in conc. HF and conc.HNO3, but I need to know if they can withstand these acids with a temperature of 35 degC?

Sam Tan
- Singapore
2003

You do not mention the concentration of your acid mixture. At room temperature there would be a significant attack or etching. At 35C, I would expect the attack to be about 4 times faster. Depending on the thickness of the material, I would GUESS that the usefull life would be measured in contact days rather than months. Teflon is about the only thing that will stand up to your mixture.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2003

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Probably not a good idea! Us a polyethylene or polypropylene basket.

Lee Kremer
Stellar Solutions, Inc.

McHenry, Illinois

2003

Polypropylene will crack in warm nitric acid. Polyethylene will stand up fairly well, but should be inspected regularly.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2003

Thank you for the advice, I will try to find one of this basket that will fit in my 2 liter beaker [beakers on eBay or Amazon [affil links] . Anyway, the concentration of the acids are HF 55% and HNO3 68%.

Sam Tan
- Singapore
2003