Comparative Behavior of Titanium and Zirconium in Hydrofluoric-Nitric Acid Pickling Solutions Available to Purchase

The different behavior of titanium and zirconium in HF-HNO₃ pickling solutions has been studied using electrochemical methods and Raman spectrometry. In each case, the depleting of the solutions during a pickling experiment could be correlated with the consumption of HF to form metal oxo or oxofluoro complexes. However, the mechanism of metal dissolution is quite different for the two metals. The titanium dissolution process in such solutions can be interpreted using a passivation model in which dissolution and passivation are two competing reactions at the surface of the bare metal. On the other hand, zirconium dissolution occurs through formation of an oxide film with ionic diffusion through the film being a rate-determining step. The particular role of strong acid added to the HF solution for pickling of titanium and zirconium is also discussed.