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This is oddly specific, but I am having trouble making the setup work for my electrochemical cell. We're doing SECCM and the device has a capillary tube fit through a small hole, where the electrolyte droplet makes contact with the metal surface. Here's the issue - the hole is so snug that the capillary tube is prone to breaking inside of it, which leaves behind tiny glass shards and makes it unable to fit. I have been trying for nearly a day to dislodge this one invisible piece that makes it impossible to fit another tube through.

I have tried several options including rinsing out the hole with water, getting an equal diameter PTFE tube to try pushing through (it also gets stuck), and blowing nitrogen gas through, but none of them have worked so far. Would trying to vacuum likely be more successful than blowing? I think I'm seeing tiny pieces of glass accumulate on my benchtop, so it might be that what I'm trying is working, but just takes a lot of perseverance, in which case it doesn't feel like a practical solution moving forward.

Thanks so much for any input!

rydo
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  • Flow water backwards through hole. If it is snug, you might also consider trying to shatter the glass further with steel so that the shards are even smaller. It also may be impossible to remove leaving the hole intact- you may just have to drill anew and plug the difference. If the hole is in metal, you can try heating it too. – Abel Jun 22 '24 at 14:19
  • Can you can get a metal wire of similar size to the hole, and push the pieces out with that? Softer metal like Cu, if you're concerned about scratching? – Pete W Jun 22 '24 at 23:49
  • ask your dentist about the tools he/she uses ... maybe one of the root canal drills may be suitable ... of course glass is much harder than tooth material, so it may not last very long – jsotola Jun 23 '24 at 18:07

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