That’s fantastic!!!
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
On Behalf Of Andy Glode
Sent: Tuesday, June 8, 2021 9:55 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] alternative etchant for metal samples
Hi all,
I am late in sharing a significant innovation one of our students, Nick Ferreri, made last year that will be of interest to this group. I presented safety training to a group students who were planning to use HF as an etchant. Nick took
it upon himself to research alternatives to HF and developed a method that eliminated HF use from his preparation method for titanium samples. The alternative method uses ethylene glycol, ethanol, sodium chloride, and a low voltage charge. Please note that
concentrated acids and high voltage are not used in this etch method, completely avoiding the major hazards historically associated with titanium metal preparation for electron microscopy. And, the resulting etch is better than if the sample had been etched
with HF. Please share this with colleagues who may use HF to etch titanium and titanium alloys.
The published article describing the method is here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1044580320303363
Thanks!
Andy
Andy Glode, MS, CIH
Interim Director
Office of Environmental Health and Safety
University of New Hampshire
O: 603-862-5038; C: 603-534-9872
https://www.unh.edu/research/environmental-health-and-safety
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