A NOVEL ALTERNATIVE ETCHANT FOR MILD STEEL USING VALENCIA ORANGE (Citrus sinensis) PEEL EXTRACT

Abstract

Etching potential of Valencia orange peel extracts (VOPE) on mild steel was investigated using one-step etching process method. The etchant was extracted through solid state fermentation (SSF) method and 1 liter of crude extract was obtained. Water was extracted from the crude extract to make it anhydrous and 8g/ litre of anhydrous solid crude removed VOPE was obtained. The etchant organic contents were determined using volumetric acidbase titration method which confirmed the predominant presence of citric acid as the major organic acid contained in the crude extract VOPE with 78% / litre of extract (VOPE) produced in weight percent (wt%) concentration. The etching performance of crude extract (VOPE) on mild steel was studied using two level (22) factorial Design. The metallography of mild steel was carried out using 2.5% concentration of crude extract VOPE etchant and 2 minutes etching time was used which gives the best positive yield. The result of microstructures reveals that: newly produced and developed organic etchant VOPE gives better quality of microstructures than the conventional mild steel etchant of Nital solution