Process for Cleaning and Polishing Nitinol or Titanium

Minimum recommended process for electropolishing Titanium alloys

• 1. Clean in MicroClean Ti™ (RDZ-1849) (Time and temperature to be determined, no such thing as “too much”)
• 2. Water Rinse
• 3. Alcohol Rinse
• 4. ElectroPolish Ti2 (RDZ-1676), 300+ Amps/ft2, up to 10 minutes
• OR Generic Electropolish (70/30 Methanol/sulfuric) which you can make, or can purchase as Nitinol Titanium ElectroPolish (RDZ-1867), used at 7-10 volts, ~50 Amps/ft2, and below -20 degrees C.  If you are making this exciting blend, you may want to read "Control of Methanol-Sulfuric blends".

If the polishing is non-uniform, the surface may be oxidized, and require a treatment after the MicroClean Ti™:  MicroClean MV™ (RDZ-1995), which, although it is a strong acid de-oxidizer it will NOT remove metal.

In case you were wondering this is NOT a medical device, it is, in fact, a Titanium motorcycle peg. We had a request from a customer to see if we could polish this in the ElectroPolish Ti2™, and although we did not have enough power in the laboratory rectifier to polish the entire peg, it did a nice job on a portion. We keep this as reminder that we can polish things we would never have thought of.

Process for Cleaning and Polishing Cobalt/Chromium

Minimum recommended process for electropolishing Cobalt/Chromium

This is effective ONLY with metal which does not contain colored oxide:

Step	Process Line / Description
1.	Clean in MicroClean Ti™ (RDZ-1849) (Time and temperature to be determined, no such thing as “too much”)
2.	Water Rinse
3.	Alcohol Rinse
4.	ElectroPolish Ti2 (RDZ-1676), 300+ Amps/ft2, up to 10 minutes

This process is effective for metal which has colored oxide:

Step	Process Line	Concentration & Temperature	Equipment Required	Ventilation Requirements
1.	Pre-Clean in MicroClean Ti™ (RDZ-1849)	100% 50°+ C	SS labware PP or PVC	Not Required
2.	Rinse in tap water
3.	Alkaline Descale™ (RDZ-1734)	50% Part A 50% Part B 80°–100° C 4-24 hours	Pyrex or SS	Not Required
4.	Rinse in tap water	Room Temperature
5.	Descale Remover (RDZ-1735)	100% Room Temp 60 Seconds	Glass or Plastic	Recommended
6.	Rinse in tap water
7.	Rinse in dry alcohol			???
8.	ElectroPolish Ti2™ (RDZ-1676)	100% Room Temperature	SS	Required
9.	Rinse in water

Process for Cleaning and Polishing 300 Series Stainless Steel

For parts without colored oxide:

Step	Process Line / Description
1.	Clean in MicroClean Ti™ (RDZ-1849) (Time and temperature to be determined, no such thing as “too much”)
2.	Water Rinse
3.	Alcohol Rinse
4.	ElectroPolish Ti2 (RDZ-1676), 300+ Amps/ft2, up to 10 minutes
	OR (no alcohol rinse required)
4A.	Chemical Polish (non-electrolytic) in ChemPolish SS™ (RDZ-1815)

For parts WITH colored oxide:

Step	Process Line	Concentration & Temperature	Equipment Required	Ventilation Requirements
1.	Pre-Clean in MicroClean Ti™ (RDZ-1849)	100% 50°+ C	SS labware PP or PVC	Not Required
2.	Rinse in tap water
3.	Alkaline Descale™ (RDZ-1734)	50% Part A 50% Part B 80°–100° C 4-24 hours	Pyrex or SS	Not Required
4.	Rinse in tap water	Room Temperature
5.	Descale Remover (RDZ-1735)	100% Room Temp 60 Seconds	Glass or Plastic	Recommended
6.	Rinse in tap water
7.	Chemical Polish in ChemPolish SS™ (RDZ-1815)	100% 75° C 2-5 minutes	Glass or Polypro	Required
	OR
7A.	Rinse in dry alcohol			???
8A.	ElectroPolish Ti2™ (RDZ-1676)	100% Room Temperature	SS	Required
9.	Rinse in water