Editing Nitric acid (section)

====Etchant and cleaning agent====
The corrosive effects of nitric acid are exploited for some specialty applications, such as [[etching]] in printmaking, [[Pickling (metal)|pickling stainless steel]] or cleaning silicon wafers in electronics.<ref>Muraoka, Hisashi (1995). "Silicon wafer cleaning fluid with HNO<sub>3</sub>, HF, HCl, surfactant, and water" {{US Patent|5635463}}</ref>

A solution of nitric acid, water and alcohol, [[nital]], is used for etching metals to reveal the microstructure. ISO 14104 is one of the standards detailing this well known procedure.<ref>{{cite ISO standard|csnumber=70396|title=ISO 14104:2017 – Gears – Surface temper etch inspection after grinding, chemical method}}</ref>

Nitric acid is used either in combination with hydrochloric acid or alone to clean glass cover slips and glass slides for high-end microscopy applications.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fischer |first1=A. H. |last2=Jacobson |first2=K. A. |last3=Rose |first3=J. |last4=Zeller |first4=R. |title=Preparation of Slides and Coverslips for Microscopy |journal=Cold Spring Harbor Protocols |date=1 May 2008 |volume=2008 |issue=6 |pages=pdb.prot4988 |doi=10.1101/pdb.prot4988 |pmid=21356831 }}</ref> It is also used to clean glass before silvering when making silver mirrors.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Curtis |first1=Heber D. |title=Methods of Silvering Mirrors |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |date=February 1911 |volume=23 |issue=135 |pages=13 |doi=10.1086/122040 |bibcode=1911PASP...23...13C |s2cid=120665136 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1431273 |doi-access=free |hdl=2027/mdp.39015018047608 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Commercially available aqueous blends of 5–30% nitric acid and 15–40% [[phosphoric acid]] are commonly used for cleaning food and dairy equipment primarily to remove precipitated calcium and magnesium compounds (either deposited from the process stream or resulting from the use of hard water during production and cleaning). The phosphoric acid content helps to passivate [[iron alloys|ferrous alloys]] against corrosion by the dilute nitric acid.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

Nitric acid can be used as a spot test for [[alkaloid]]s like [[LSD]], giving a variety of colours depending on the alkaloid.<ref name="validation paper">{{cite journal |last1=O’Neal |first1=Carol L |last2=Crouch |first2=Dennis J |last3=Fatah |first3=Alim A |title=Validation of twelve chemical spot tests for the detection of drugs of abuse |journal=Forensic Science International |date=April 2000 |volume=109 |issue=3 |pages=189–201 |doi=10.1016/S0379-0738(99)00235-2 |pmid=10725655 }}</ref>