Today I was playing with Hydrogen peroxide and muratic .. But it had strong ordor from etching .. Is this normal and does ferrite chloride do the samething ???


Thanks

 

I have used ferric chloride often and it generates no smell. I have never used hydrogen peroxide and muratic acid.

 

Muriatic acid has a pungent odor, which I think is a good thing, as it reminds you not to breath it in. It is best used in ventilated areas with minimum personal exposure while wearing neoprene gloves. If this cannot be achieved, or if the smell is too much for your liking, then ferric chloride would be the better option.

 

As a side note, it is also best transported in a plastic vessel that has it's cap fully affixed. Have a personal story from a move that involved muriatic acid being transported inside of a Honda Accord... it didn't end well.

 

I Never used HCl to etch copper but I did etch aluminum by accident and it produced pretty powerful fumes that had very acidish smell and when I inhaled them by accident it cleared my stuffy nose.

 

Besides the HCl that has been mentioned, chloride in the solution can be oxidized to gaseous chlorine by the peroxide (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S1070427208010035#page-1) . Chlorine gas has a characteristic odor and is toxic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine).

John