nital Metallurgy.
(ˈnaɪtæl)
Also Nital.
[f. nitric a. + alcohol.]
An etchant consisting of a few per cent of concentrated nitric acid in ethyl or methyl alcohol.
| 1925 M. A. Grossmann tr. Heyn's Physical Metallogr. iv. 144 Alcoholic Nitric Acid (Martens)... Abbreviation HNO3/Alc., or nital. 1936 Metals Handbk. (Amer. Soc. for Metals) 557 Nital brings out ferrite junction lines clearly while both Nital and Picral etch pearlite clearly. 1950 Engineering 24 Mar. 339/1 The barrel is etched with 7 per cent. nital solution. 1963 B. Harocopos Princ. Structural Metall. v. 55 Occasionally nital will produce pits in the vicinity of non-metallic inclusions, and in such cases amyl alcohol may be used as a solvent instead. 1975 Nature 21 Aug. 635/1 The Nital etch did not reveal recrystallisation in the taenite. |