Good day! Maybe following articles will be helpful: https://www.researchgate.net/file.PostFileLoader.html?id=56b494b57c1920b66d8b4587&assetKey=AS%3A325745235775488%401454675124664
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_a_suitable_Etchant_for_Aluminum_Silicon_eutectic_alloy_AlSi12
https://www.steeldata.info/etch/demo/list/al.html
https://materialsdata.nist.gov/bitstream/handle/11115/173/Aluminum%20and%20Aluminum%20Alloys%20Davis.pdf
Hello Maroua,
As was stated above, Keller's etchant and it's numerous derivatives will expose the grains nicely when observed using a polarizing microscope. You can see an examples in a recent paper:
Article Electropolishing of single crystal and polycrystalline alumi...
It's major drawback is that it is very toxic.
Mildly diluted Ferric chloride is safer and works well in most cases. We have been using those reagents for examining grains in pure aluminum, which the 1100 is, to some degree.
Hello Maroua Chettah,
The etching of Aluminum 1100 depending on the "what are you need?". In general, you can use the etchant designed in the ASTM E407-99 "Standard Practice for Microetching Metals and Alloys" such as, (1a, 3, 2) for general structure, (4, 5) for grain structure under polarized light, and (6, 7) for phase identifications.
echant #
1 1 mL HF+ 200 mL water (a) Swab with cotton for 15 s
2 3 mL HF+ 100 mL water (a) Swab 10 s to reveal general structure.
3 2 mL HF +3 mL HCl+5 mL HNO3+190 mL water (a) Immerse 10–20 s Wash in stream of warm water. Reveals general structure.
4
5
6
7
- Badges
- Science topic