Nanoscale characterization of anodic oxide films on Ti-6Al-4V alloy

The paper analyses, at nanoscale levels, the chemical composition and mechanical properties of the anodic oxide films formed on Ti-6Al-4V alloy by galvanostatic polarization at maximum final voltages of 12-100 V. For the investigations Auger Electron Spectroscopy, Photoelectron Spectroscopy and nanoindentation measurements have been used. The results have shown that anodizing the Ti-6Al-4V alloy produces an oxide film whose thickness depends on the final voltage. The chemical composition is not significantly dependent on the thickness, the film consists of TiO₂ and Al₂O₃. However, the best insulating properties of the films, determined from the growth parameter nm/V, are achieved with a final voltage between 30 and 65 V. Nanohardness and Young's modulus measurements have shown that the anodic films formed by different voltages exhibit similar mechanical properties which is consistent with the results of the surface analysis.     

Formation of porous niobium films by oblique angle deposition: Influence of substrate morphology

The present work demonstrates the formation of porous niobium films with separated columnar structures by oblique angle magnetron sputtering for capacitor application. The niobium films deposited on textured aluminium substrates, which had concave cell structures with the cell sizes ranging from 125 nm to 550 nm, consist of isolated columns of niobium with wider gaps between columns developing on the substrates with larger cell sizes. The surface areas of the deposited films, evaluated by the capacitance of the anodic films formed at several voltages, increased with an increase in the cell size of substrate. The surface area decreases with an increase in the formation potential of anodic films from 2 V to 10 V vs Ag/AgCl, because the gaps are filled with anodic oxide as a consequence of the large Pilling-Bedworth ratio of 2.6 for the Nb/Nb₂O₅ system. The reduction of the surface area is suppressed when the substrate with larger cell size is used, due to the formation of niobium columns with wider gaps, which are not filled with anodic oxide. The high surface area even at higher formation voltages of the anodic films is a requisite for capacitor application.     

TC4钛合金表面阳极氧化制备TiO_2多孔膜的实验研究

以硫酸为电解液,钛合金(TC4)为阳极,不锈钢片为阴极,采用恒压的氧化方式在钛合金表面获得TiO2多孔膜。通过扫描电镜(SEM)观察了多孔膜的微观形貌并用X射线衍射(XRD)对覆在钛合金基体上的氧化膜进行了物相分析,研究了氧化工艺参数电压、阳极氧化时间和硫酸浓度对TiO2多孔膜相组成的影响。结果表明:TC4钛合金阳极氧化获得的氧化膜为非均一平面的TiO2多孔膜,且膜的孔径分布在90~240nm,XRD分析表明在不同的氧化工艺参数下氧化膜均由锐钛相和金红石相双相晶型组成。在0.5mol/L硫酸溶液中,电压高于100V或氧化时间长于5min即出现锐钛相和金红石相TiO2,随着电压的升高和时间的增长金红石相TiO2的含量逐渐增加;在恒压120V时,硫酸溶液浓度为0.3mol/L即出现锐钛相和金红石相TiO2,随着硫酸浓度的提高金红石相TiO2的含量先增加后减少。     

The effects of cathodic and anodic voltages on the characteristics of porous nanocrystalline titania coatings fabricated by microarc oxidation

Porous nanocrystalline titania films were prepared by microarc oxidation (MAO) of a titanium alloy keeping anodic voltage at 230–410 V and cathodic voltage at 20–45 V in a Na₂CO₃ and Na₂SiO₃ electrolytic solutions using an asymmetric pulse alternating current power supply. XRD, EDS and SEM were employed to characterize the phase, composition and microstructure of the films. It is found that the films consist of dominant rutile and little anatase phases. The phase, pore size and thickness of the coatings strongly depend on the applied voltage, consistent with the previous reports, and the cathodic voltage has an intense effect on the films' pitting corrosion performance in sodium chloride solution. The films prepared by keeping the anodic and cathodic voltages at 320 and 45 V, respectively, for 30 min were porous, with 200 nm to 4 μm pores and the pore walls composed of 100–300 nm rutile crystallites.     

Anodic oxide film growth on thin magnetron sputter-deposited titanium layer

A ~ 100 nm thick sputter-deposited titanium layer on electropolished aluminium is used for the investigation of anodic film growth in 1 M H₃PO₄. It is found that the thin titanium layer could not provide sufficient current efficiency for titanium anodic film growth when anodized to the voltage over 80 V due to the occurrence of oxygen evolution. The ruptures of titanium anodic film and the sputtering layer are induced by the development of oxygen bubbles. The penetrated phosphoric acid electrolyte in the ruptured regions of sputtering titanium layer contacts with the aluminium substrate, which is leading to the anodic oxide growth of aluminium. The thickness of the titanium anodic film increases from 10 to 100 V, however, it is reduced from 100 to 150 V due to the thinning of titanium layer. Over 80 V, the sputtering layer at some regions where it is completely ruptured, the anodic film growth of titanium could not be created. A thicker aluminium anodic film is formed on such regions due to the direct connection with the electrolyte.     

Substrate bias voltage influenced structural, electrical and optical properties of dc magnetron sputtered Ta2O5 films

Tantalum oxide (Ta₂O₅) films were formed on silicon (111) and quartz substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering of tantalum target in the presence of oxygen and argon gases mixture. The influence of substrate bias voltage on the chemical binding configuration, structural, electrical and optical properties was investigated. The unbiased films were amorphous in nature. As the substrate bias voltage increased to −50 V the films were transformed into polycrystalline. Further increase of substrate bias voltage to −200 V the crystallinity of the films increased. Electrical characteristics of Al/Ta₂O₅/Si structured films deposited at different substrate bias voltages in the range from 0 to −200 V were studied. The substrate bias voltage reduced the leakage current density and increased the dielectric constant. The optical transmittance of the films increased with the increase of substrate bias voltage. The unbiased films showed an optical band gap of 4.44 eV and the refractive index of 1.89. When the substrate bias voltage increased to −200 V the optical band gap and refractive index increased to 4.50 eV and 2.14, respectively due to the improvement in the crystallinity and packing density of the films. The crystallization due to the applied voltage was attributed to the interaction of the positive ions in plasma with the growing film.     

Non-sparking anodization process of AZ91D magnesium alloy under low AC voltage

Anodization is widely recognized as one of the most important surface treatments for magnesium alloys. However, since high voltage oxidation films are limited in some applications due to porosity and brittleness, it is worthwhile to explore the non-sparking oxidizing process. In this work, AZ91D was electrochemically anodized at different AC voltages in an electrolyte containing 120 g/L NaOH and 80 g/L Na₂SiO₃·9H₂O. The effects of voltage on the surface morphology, composition and reaction process, especially the non-sparking discharge anodic film formation process, were investigated. The results showed that four different processes would appear according to the applied voltage variation from 6 V to 40 V, and that the non-sparking film formation process occurred in the range of 6–10 V. The film formed on the AZ91D surface under 10 V AC was mainly composed of Mg₂SiO₄ with a lamellar structure. The horizontal and vertical expansion of the lamellar structure resulted in the formation of a multi-layered structure with a stable, linear growth rate for 30 min. The non-sparking film formation process can be considered to be the result of a balance of electrochemical dissolution and chemical deposition reaction.     

钛阳极氧化膜的着色研究

TA2型纯钛植入材料在葡萄糖酸钠电解液中阳极氧化可得到丰富的色彩,增强了钛植入体的美观性和功能性.分析表明:工艺参数对氧化膜质量有着重要的影响.电压是影响膜层色彩的最主要的因素,颜色随着电压的变化而发生规律性的改变.经X射线衍射分析,纯钛表面经阳极氧化处理后,其表面生成了一层非晶态的氧化钛薄膜,并且钛晶体的各个表面沿不同结晶方向的腐蚀速率不相同.通过对氧化膜层显微观察和耐蚀性研究,证明阳极氧化及热处理可大大提高钛氧化膜在模拟体液中的热力学稳定性和耐蚀性,且适当的热处理可使非晶态的钛氧化膜转化为稳定的二氧化钛.     

Structure of nanotubular titanium oxide templates prepared by electrochemical anodization in H2SO4/HF solutions

The electrochemical formation of nanotubular titanium oxide films was investigated in 1 M H₂SO₄ and 0.05-0.4 wt.% HF electrolytes. Depending on anodization condition, i.e. cell voltage, anodization time, HF concentration, TiO₂ porous films having different thickness (from 350 to 500 nm) and pore diameter (from 40 to 150 nm) were obtained. By varying the cell voltage from 10 V to 40 V it was possible to gradually change the crystal structure of titanium oxide from anatase to rutile. The effect of annealing temperature and duration on crystal structure was also considered.     

不同电解液组成对TiO2纳米管形成的影响

电解液在阳极氧化中发挥着重要作用,对TiO2纳米管的形成与否,形成后管的成分、形貌都有着很大的影响.本实验采用了恒压阳极氧化方式,分别以HF(0.5wt%),(NH4)2SO4 HF(0.5wt%),(NH4)H2PO4 HF(0.5wt%),NaNO3 HF(0.5wt%)为电解液,在钛箔表面获得多孔TiO2膜.用FESEM观察了多孔膜的形貌并用EDX和XPS能谱对膜表面成分和构成进行测试分析.实验结果表明:在单一的HF酸电解液中加入(NH4)2SO4或(NH4)H2PO4后,阳极氧化生成的膜孔径明显减小,并且膜表面形态较差.加入NaNO3后,对膜的形貌影响不是很大.由EDX和XPS能谱分析得出,阴离子中的大部分非金属元素较难进入膜表面,而氮元素却很容易掺杂进入膜的表面形成N-Ti-O结构,从而影响膜的成分构成.这表明本实验利用简单电化学方法实现了N的掺杂.通过XRD测试得出,含不同阴离子的电解液对TiO2膜的晶型转变温度影响不大.     

Porous TiO2 films on Ti implants for controlled release of tetracycline-hydrochloride (TCH)

Micro- and nano-porous TiO₂ films were created on the surface of Ti implants using micro-arc oxidation and anodic titanium oxide treatments, respectively, to load a sol-gel derived silica xerogel for the controlled release of the antibiotic drug, tetracycline-hydrochloride (TCH). When the silica xerogel containing TCH was loaded into porous TiO₂ films, a very high drug loading efficiency was observed compared to when it was loaded in Ti implants without a TiO₂ film. Moreover, TCH was released in a controlled manner for up to 7 days.     

Caractéristiques Courant-Tension Des Structures Ti/TiO2/Électrolyte Et Ti/TiO2/Métal: Effet Schottky Et Claquage

Anodic layers of TiO₂ were made with a potentiostatic setting and voltages from 1 to 90 V in 1 N sulphuric acid. The current-applied voltage characteristics of the structures Ti/TiO₂/Au and Ti/TiO₂/electrolyte are compared and analysed with the Schottky mechanism. The barrier heights calculated for the rectifying interfaces TiO₂-Au and TiO₂-electrolyte are respectively 1.2±0.1 eV and 0.88±0.05 eV. Three domains of voltage were distinguished for the anodic oxidation of titanium in the potentiostatic mode as follows: from 1 to 10 V corresponding to a natural oxide thin layer and the beginning of anodic oxidation; from 10 to 90 V corresponding to oxidation with electronic breakdown; beyond 90 V relating to oxidation accompanied by thermal breakdown.     

Anodic oxidation and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of titanium alloys

Uniform and reproducible oxide films were formed on alloy Ti-6Al-6V-2.5Sn by anodic oxidation in aqueous 0.5% H₃BO₃, at 10 mA cm⁻² and voltages up to 110V; dielectric break down occurred above 120V. A parallelism was found between the effect of environmental factors on stress corrosion cracking (SCC), as reported in the literature and the anodic behaviour, as observed by ourselves: factors that increased susceptibility to SCC (increase in temperature or viscosity, alloying, introductions of CI⁻ or methanol, lowering of pH) reduced passivity under anodic polarization, while factors that inhibited SCC (thicker oxide films, high pH, phosphate ions) increased passivity. The passivity was associated both with the presence of the anodic oxide and with a transitory effect of the electric field across the oxide and the oxide-electrolyte interface.     

Multilayer structure of tantalum anodic oxide films formed in dilute phosphoric acid

An investigation has been made of the multilayer structure of anodic oxide films on pure tantalum, formed up to various voltages with a constant current density of 1.0 mA cm^-2 in 1.0 × 10^-2 N H₃PO₄ at 20°C. For the study, infrared reflectance spectra (IRRS) were recorded and the optical thickness measuring method was successfully applied using the wavelengths of optical interference maxima and a chemical film stripper (concentrated ammonium hydrogen difluoride aqueous solution).The conclusions are that: (1) tantalum anodic oxide films anodized in dilute phosphoric acid consist of three layers, irrespective of the formation voltage; (2) the innermost layer is uniform whatever the anodization voltage; (3) phosphate anions are incorporated in both the outermost and middle layers but not in the innermost layer; (4) all three layers grow from the initial formation stage and the growth rates are nearly equal; (5) for formation voltages below 100 V the middle layer has an unchanging chemical structure, but above 100 V its chemical structure changes with the voltage; (6) the outermost layer appears to vary in chemical structure over all anodization voltages.     

Formation of complex anodic films on porous alumina matrices

The kinetics of growth of complex anodic alumina films was investigated. These films were formed by filling porous oxide films (matrices) having deep pores. The porous films (matrices) were obtained voltastatically in (COOH)₂ aqueous solution under various voltages. The filling was done by reanodization in an electrolyte solution not dissolving the film. Data about the kinetics of reanodization depending on the porosity of the matrices were obtained. On the other hand, the slopes of the kinetic curves during re-anodization were calculated by two equations expressing the dependence of these slopes on the ionic current density. A discrepancy was ascertained between the values of the calculated slopes and those experimentally found. For this discrepancy a possible explanation is proposed, related to the temperature increase in the film, because of that the real current density significantly increases during re-anodization.     

Anodic oxidation of tantalum in water and biological solutions using current limiting constant voltage method

A reliable method is developed for preparing tantalum pentoxide film targets in natural water and biological fluids (urine, blood plasma and serum) by the anodization of tantalum metal using a current limiting constant voltage method. Tantalum pentoxide film targets are successfully prepared at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² at an anodic voltage ranging from 20 V to 100 V without any oxide breakdown. The results show that for the same applied voltage, more ionic concentration in biological solutions leads to a higher rate of oxide growth than in water and a darker interference color. The analysis shows that anodic oxidation is more likely to breakdown in a biological environment than in pure water for the same oxidation time and applied voltage. The oxide film capacitance is found to be only slightly dependent on pH and anodic voltage with higher capacitive films in biological solutions than for water.     

Formation of porous anodic alumina in alkaline borate electrolyte

The growth of porous anodic films at 60 V in an alkaline 0.13 M borax electrolyte at 333 K is examined using sputtering-deposited aluminium substrates, with a fine band of incorporated tungsten tracer. The findings reveal amorphous alumina films containing approximately conical major pores incorporating finer secondary pores, with film thicknesses similar to that of the oxidized aluminium. Further, the distribution of the tungsten tracer within the film is mainly consistent with its expected migration behaviour in anodic alumina. The results indicate that pore development under the present growth conditions is dominated by field-assisted dissolution of anodic alumina, with an efficiency of film growth of about 50%. The findings are in contrast with those of porous anodic films formed in phosphoric acid electrolyte, which are significantly thicker than the layer of oxidized metal.     

In-situ preparation of multi-layer TiO2 nanotube array thin films by anodic oxidation method

The multi-layer TiO₂ nanotube array thin films have been formed by anodic oxidation method via adjusting the outer voltage during oxidation process in glycerol electrolyte containing 0.3% NH₄HF₂. The diameter of the nanotube array increases with the outer voltage, and the length of nanotube in every layer increases with the anodic oxidation time. These multi-layers bring new possibilities to tailor the properties of the TiO₂ nanotube array thin films formed via anodic oxidation method. Further, such multi-layer structure provide a new approach to evaluate the growth rate of TiO₂ nanotube, which will help us to understand more deeply the formation mechanism of the TiO₂ nanotubes. The growth rate of TiO₂ nanotube array is respectively 1.2 and 3.6 μm/h under the anodic voltage of 30 V and 60 V. These multi-layer TiO₂ nanotube array thin films may exhibit lots of potential applications in photoelectrochemical fields.     

How structure changes in fabrication of large size ordered anodic alumina film?

Large size anodic alumina film has not been used in the industry due to that the fabrication parameters are very difficult to control, but the fabrication of large size anodic alumina is exigent as a template in the fabrication of diverse nano-devices oriented to the industrialization. In this paper, large size (width length = 80 mm × 80 mm) porous ordered anodic alumina film was fabricated by using two-step anodization process as compared to the small size (diameter = 40 mm) anodic alumina film in the structures. Pore size and film thickness of anodic alumina film are strongly related to the size of the anodization film. The large size anodic alumina film has an ideally ordered pattern by applying low voltage. However, with the increase of voltage, the ordered pattern of the PAA films was gradually disrupted, especially in the 70 V due to the local thermal imbalance.     

Titanium oxide thin films deposited by high-power impulse magnetron sputtering

Ionized physical vapor deposition processes are of great interest for surface modification because the flexibility of the thin film deposition process can be increased by ionizing the metallic vapor. Recently, high-power impulse magnetron discharges have been implemented to achieve high ionization rates.Thin films of titanium oxide have been deposited on glass and steel substrates using 450 × 150 mm rectangular titanium target in argon-oxygen atmosphere. The average power delivered to the plasma is ranging between 1.5 and 2 kW and peak current and voltage are respectively 200 A and 900 V.Films are characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy, Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction and Optical Transmission Spectroscopy. One of the major findings is the presence of rutile deposited on steel substrate (even for 0 V bias grounded substrate) and the significant increase of the refractive index of the films deposited on glass compared to thin films deposited via conventional direct current bipolar pulsed magnetron sputtering. Films synthesized by high-power impulse magnetron sputtering are denser.