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Highly increased breakdown potential of anodic films on aluminum using a sealed porous layer

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Abstract

The growth of a uniform barrier-type anodic film on aluminum is usually terminated by electric breakdown, which is controlled by the resistance of electrolyte or anion concentration. In this study, highly resistive porous layers have been introduced by anodizing aluminum in sulfuric acid electrolyte followed by boiling water treatment to examine their influence on the electric breakdown potential. The pores of the porous alumina film are sealed by forming hydrated alumina (pseudo-boehmite) after the boiling water treatment. The breakdown potential increases to over 1500 V for the pore-sealed aluminum specimens on anodizing in sodium tungstate electrolyte. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements revealed an increased resistance of the porous layer after the pore-sealing treatment. GDOES depth profile analysis disclosed that the sealed porous layer impedes the incorporation of tungsten species into the barrier layer. The introduction of a highly resistive layer that also suppresses the anion incorporation on aluminum is effective in increasing the breakdown potential of anodic films.

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Acknowledgments

The present study was supported in part by the Light Metal Educational Foundation. A part of this work was conducted at “Joint-use Facilities: Laboratory of Nano-Micro Material Analysis,” Hokkaido University, supported by “Nanotechnology Platform” Program of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    Jin-Hui Cao & Yingliang Cheng

  2. Graduate School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8628, Japan

    Jin-Hui Cao, Yuki Sato, Chunyu Zhu, Yoshitaka Aoki & Hiroki Habazaki

  3. Division of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8628, Japan

    Damian Kowalski, Chunyu Zhu, Yoshitaka Aoki & Hiroki Habazaki

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  1. Jin-Hui Cao
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  2. Yuki Sato
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  3. Damian Kowalski
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  4. Chunyu Zhu
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  5. Yoshitaka Aoki
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  7. Hiroki Habazaki
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Correspondence to Hiroki Habazaki.

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Cao, JH., Sato, Y., Kowalski, D. et al. Highly increased breakdown potential of anodic films on aluminum using a sealed porous layer. J Solid State Electrochem 22, 2073–2081 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-018-3913-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-018-3913-3

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