Letter 30065

Electropolishing of nitrided steel  

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What should be the electrolyte for electropolishing of plasma nitrided parts (En41B steel) to improve the surface finish? Can we use the general electrolytes used for alloy steel (perchloric acid + acetic acid combination) for this nitrided steel also?

K.Chandrasekaran
Metallurgist - Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, INDIA

I'll have to let someone else with experience in it answer your question. I'll only warn that perchloric acid should not be used in anything larger than a beaker, and only by a highly trained and skilled chemist in a laboratory. Some experts feel that even that use should be prohibited. Either way, it's absolutely not for "parts" . Please see letter 9408.

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

Acetic acid is an organic. Perchloric acid is an oxidizer. If you could get the portions and conditions correct, you have a bomb.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida

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