I am looking for an HF replacement for etching TiO2 layer on Ti substrate. My colleague already tried Pirahna solution and H2O2 alone, but not even close to the surface obtained by HF etching.
Thank you for your reply. I went through the paper you suggested and is very interesting. As far as I understood, photoelectrochemical etching method is for creating nanostructures on the surface.
What I am looking, is for a chemical method in which I can completely remove the surface oxide layer of Ti. And practically, I drop the samples in the 'medium' and it dissolves the TiO2 layer in certain time period. I hope I could convey my point!
Thank you for your answer. The basic issue is that, HF is not available and need to do loads of legal formalities to get it. That's why I asked for an alternative (other than HF).
If you have no acces to HF; TIO2 Can be dissolved by hot H2S04 .As you have no photo resist, Temperature is not a limiting factor. Another possibility is to use catalytic etching by using NH4OH : H2O2: H2O ( 1 : 2 : 1 for instance).
A few suggestions for HF-free titanium etching, liberally borrowed from the internet site of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Brigham Young University (*): Br2 + ethyl acetate (hot); I2 + MeOH (hot); NH4OH + H2O2 (1:2); oxalic acid (conc.); HCl (conc.); KOH or NaOH (conc.), H2SO4 (20% wt.), ethyl trichloroacetate, formic acid (25% wt.), H3PO4 (20% wt.).