Self-organisation of nanoscaled pores in anodic oxide overlayer on stainless steels

The nanoscaled morphology of the overlayer covering stainless steels after electropolishing in perchloric acid-based electrolyte was explored mainly by AFM and SEM. Two kinds of stainless steels were tested. For the austenitic one (AISI 304L), a quasi-periodic arrangement of pores in this overlayer has been observed. Depending on the experimental conditions, the distance between neighbouring pores ranged from 20 nm up to 230 nm. This inter-pore distance varied either with the applied voltage or with the current density for a constant voltage. From XPS spectra performed on the nanostructured surfaces, analysis of the energy shifts of Cr and Fe 2p levels showed that the anodic overlayer was enriched in Cr atoms compared to the 304L steel bulk composition. For the austeno-ferritic duplex stainless steel, the electropolished surface exhibited nanoscaled pores, which had grown and self-organised on both phases but with different characteristic dimensions.