Have you tried oxalic acid or chromic acid?

Both electrolytic etchants reveal grains, they work

better n the austenite, but they reveal ferritic grains too. I'm sending you a picture made with
oxalic acid my student made. I have not the details, but I can ask my student if you wish.

The following table lists the most commonly used

etchants
Etchant Composition Conc. Conditions Comments

ASTM No. 30 Ammonia 62.5 ml Mix Ammonia and For etching copper, copper
Hydrogen Peroxide 125 ml water before adding alloys and copper-silver
(3%) 62.5 ml peroxide. Must be alloys.
DI Water used fresh. Swab 5-
45 seconds

Adler Etchant Copper ammonium 9 grams Immersion is For etching 300 series
chloride 150 ml recommended for stainless steel and
Hydrochloric acid 45 grams several seconds Hastelloy superalloys
Ferric chloride, 75 ml
hydrated
DI Water

Carpenters FeCl3 8.5 grams Immersion etching at For etching duplex and 300
Stainless Steel CuCl2 2.4 grams 20 degrees Celsius series stainless steels.
Etch Hydrochloric acid 122 ml
Nitric acid 6 ml
Ethanol 122 ml

Kalling's No. 2 CuCl2 5 grams Immersion or For etching duplex and 400
Hydrochloric acid 100 ml swabbing etch at 20 series stainless steels and
Ethanol 100 ml degrees Celsius Ni-Cu alloys and
superalloys.

Kellers Etch Distilled water 190 ml 10-30 second Excellent for aluminum and
Nitric acid 5 ml immersion. Use only titanium alloys.
Hydrochloric acid 3 ml fresh etchant
Hydrofluoric acid 2 ml

Klemm's Sodium thiosulfate 250 ml Etch for a few For etching alpha-beta
Reagent solution Saturated seconds to minutes brass, bonze, tin, cast iron
Potassium 5 grams phosphides, ferrite,
metabisulfite martensite, retained
austenite, zinc and steel
temper embrittlement.
Kroll’s Distilled water 92 ml Excellent for titanium and
 Reagent Nitric acid 6 ml alloys.
Hydrofluoric acid 2 ml Swab specimen up
to 20 seconds

Nital Ethanol 100 ml Immersion up to a Most common etchant for

Nitric acid 1-10 ml few minutes. Fe, carbon and alloys steels
and cast iron - Immerse
sample up from seconds to
minutes; Mn-Fe, MnNi, Mn-
Cu, Mn-Co alloys.

Marble's CuSO4 10 grams Immerse or swab for For etching Ni, Ni-Cu and
Reagent Hydrochloric acid 50 ml 5-60 seconds. Ni-Fe alloys and
Water 50 ml superalloys. Add a few
drops of H2SO4 to increase
activity.

Murakami's K3Fe(CN)6 10 grams Pre-mix KOH and Cr and alloys (use fresh and
KOH 10 grams water before adding immerse); iron and steels
Water 100 ml K3Fe(CN)6 reveals carbides; Mo and
alloys uses fresh and
immerse; Ni-Cu alloys for
alpha phases use at 75
Celcius; W and alloys use
fresh and immerse; WC-Co
and complex sintered
carbides.

Picral Ethanol 100 ml Seconds to minutes Recommended for

Picric acid 2-4 grams Do not let etchant microstructures containing
crystallize or dry – ferrite, carbide, pearlite,
explosive martensite and bainite. Also
useful for magnetic alloys,
cast iron, high alloy
stainless steels and
magnesium.

Vilella’s Picric Acid 1 gram Seconds to minutes Good for ferrite-carbide

Reagent Hydrochloric acid 5 ml structures (tempered
Ethanol 100 ml martensite) in iron and steel