A two step anodizing process of aluminium as a means for improving the chemical and physical properties of oxide films

An anodizing process was developed to form corrosion resistant and hard oxide films on aluminium. The process consists of two steps: first the formation of chromate/phosphate treated layer on the surface of aluminium and secondly anodizing in a sulphuric acid solution. The anodic oxide films formed by the present process contain Cr(III) and phosphate species mostly in the outer part of the porous layer. The films formed by the present process provided a better corrosion resistance to the substrate aluminium from pitting in a chloride medium than the films formed by conventional anodizing and sealed in a boiling chromate solution. Further, Vickers hardness on the cross section of film increased compared with the films formed by conventional anodizing. This two step process can be developed to form other composite oxide films by using different treatments for the first step.