Alaba O. Araoyinbo; Azmi Rahmat; Mohd Nazree Derman; Khairel Rafezi Ahmad
Abstract
The basic concept of Gibbs standard state free energy predicts a favorable condition for both room and high temperature fabrication of nanoporous alumina in phosphoric acid electrolyte. The anodization of aluminum foil in acidic electrolytes is made possible by the well known process parameters that ...
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The basic concept of Gibbs standard state free energy predicts a favorable condition for both room and high temperature fabrication of nanoporous alumina in phosphoric acid electrolyte. The anodization of aluminum foil in acidic electrolytes is made possible by the well known process parameters that have been studied over the years. These parameters i.e. voltage, current density, type of electrolyte etc have been very effective when anodizing aluminum at freezing temperatures. When the operating temperature is raised above the freezing temperature, additional process parameters would be required to make the pore formation possible. The fabrication of the aluminum foil was carried out using phosphoric acid as the electrolyte source. The electrolyte pH was adjusted to 1, 3 and 5 in order to simulate different anodizing conditions. A potential of 50 V from a dc power supply was applied across the electrochemical cell, while a power regulating device with different power rating was attached to the electrochemical cell to provide the operating system with additional parameters that could influence the surface structure of the alumina. The micrographs obtained show that the propagation and growth of the pores at both room and high temperatures was made possible by the power regulating device attached to the cell.
Alaba O. Araoyinbo; Azmi Rahmat; Mohd Nazree Derman; Khairel Rafezi Ahmad
Abstract
Nanoporous alumina was produced by anodic oxidation of aluminum in both acidic and alkaline electrolytes. Previous reports indicate that nanoporous alumina is mainly produced from strongly acidic electrolytes, and with the use of a low freezing temperature controlled bath to control the propagation and ...
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Nanoporous alumina was produced by anodic oxidation of aluminum in both acidic and alkaline electrolytes. Previous reports indicate that nanoporous alumina is mainly produced from strongly acidic electrolytes, and with the use of a low freezing temperature controlled bath to control the propagation and growth of the pores. We design an in-house electrochemical cell with an electronic circuit box attached, to control the anodization of aluminum at room temperature. The electrolytes used were phosphoric acid solution and sodium hydroxide solution. The pH of the acidic electrolyte was adjusted to 1, 3 and 5 with an applied potential of 50V and anodization time of 1 and 3 hrs, respectively, while the alkaline electrolyte pH was adjusted to 9, 11 and 13 with an applied potential of 40V and the templates anodized for 5 hrs. The micrographs of the nanoporous alumina formed from these electrolytes confirm that the nucleation and growth of nanoporous alumina films is achievable with the aid of the electronic circuit box connected to the electrochemical cell.