# Ultra-pure wet chemicals

Commodity acids, peroxide, ammonia and solvents purified to parts-per-trillion metal levels to clean and etch chip wafers; a $4.6 billion market.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/

Specialty chemicals · Electronic chemicals · No. 71

- Product family
- Feedstock: Minerals and salts
- not published as a world tonnage
- 1.2 t CO₂e per t
- HS 280700, 281111
 Specialty chemicals · Electronic chemicals · Foundation · Matter

Chip fabs wash wafers in ordinary acids, scrubbed so clean that metals are counted in parts per trillion.

Chart: Illustration: Ultra-pure wet chemicals

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Each starts as a commodity, such as sulphuric acid from a world output of about 230 Mt a year, then is purified and tested lot by lot.

##### Three things to know

1. Hydrogen peroxide is the biggest wet chemical by value, at 29.84% of the market, because it appears in many cleaning recipes.
2. In 2019 Japan curbed exports of high-purity HF to Korea, showing how purity know-how can become a trade weapon.
3. India already makes the base chemicals, including 60 kt a year of anhydrous HF at Navin Fluorine, but imports electronic grades.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Base chemical**Technical sulphuric acid, HF, peroxide, ammonia
2. 2 **Purification**Distilled, ion-exchanged and membrane filtered
3. 3 **Lot testing**ICP-MS checks dozens of metals at ppt
4. 4 **Clean packaging**Fluoropolymer-lined drums and ISO tanks
5. 5 **Chip fab**Cleans, etches and strips wafers

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/correlation/index.md)
- [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/routes/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/production/index.md)
- [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/feedstocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/movement/index.md)
- [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/regulation/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/links/index.md)