Study of the etching characteristics of Na2CO3-mixed NaOH solution

In the present paper the effect of the presence of Na2CO3 on the etching characteristics of NaOH has been presented quantitatively. Six CR-39 detectors were etched at 50, 60 and 70∘C in 6 M NaOH solutions containing 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% concentration of Na2CO3. Etching was performed in 22 steps of 5-10 min starting from 15 min up to 210 min. These detectors were previously exposed to 252Cf source. Lengths of 35 randomly selected fission fragment tracks were measured after each etching time interval. Similarly, diameters of 25 randomly selected fission fragments having 90∘ incidence angle were also measured as mentioned above. Track etch rate, bulk etch rate, etching efficiency and activation energies of both track as well as bulk etching have been determined.