Self-Ordering of Porous Anodic Alumina Fabricated by Anodizing in Chromic Acid at High Temperature
Tatsuya Kikuchi, Motoki Yamashita, Mana Iwai, Ryosuke O. Suzuki
Abstract
Anodizing Al in chromic acid is a very useful surface finishing process for corrosion protection and nanoscale porous structure fabrication, whereas the self-ordering of porous anodic alumina (PAA) in chromic acid has never been found to date. Herein, we provide a self-ordered PAA film possessing numerous sub100-nm-scale characteristic bumps through anodizing in chromic acid at high temperature. Anodizing of high purity Al plates in a 0.3 M chromic acid solution at conventional low temperatures, such as 293 K, leads to the formation of a disordered PAA film, whereas anodizing at a high temperature of 348 K causes the self-ordering behavior of the pore structure. The PAA film grown in the initial stage possessed the highest regularity, and it decreased with anodizing time due to pore branching during anodizing. A highly ordered PAA film measuring approximately 340 nm in interpore distance can be fabricated by short-term, two-step anodizing in chromic acid at 348 K and 120 V. The ordered PAA film possesses a characteristic nanostructure consisting of hexagonally arranged 100-nm-scale pores and sub100-nm-scale disordered bumps on their pore walls without any electrolyte chromate anion.