A kind of double-sided porous anodic alumina membrane fabricated with the three-step anodic oxidation method

The porous anodic alumina membranes (PAAMs) have been successfully used as templates for the fabrication of functional nano-materials due to their outstanding regularity and physicochemical properties. In this paper, a transparent double-sided anodic alumina membrane with ultra-thin aluminum substrate was fabricated with the three-step anodic oxidation method in the oxalic acid electrolyte. The characters such as the top-surface morphology, membrane thickness, and depth of nanopores of this three-layer (Al₂O₃-Al-Al₂O₃) sandwiched nano-structure were controllable through regulating the main anodic oxidation conditions, e.g., anodic oxidation time of various steps, coating remove process. The experiments data revealed that the aluminum substrate is exponential declined with the oxidation time when it was approximately reduced by a few micrometers. This new double-sided anodic alumina membrane can be used as the high-quality functional field emission materials and templates.