Effect of Al Polishing Conditions on the Growth and Morphology of Porous Anodic Alumina Films.

The conditions applied during the electrochemical polishing of aluminum were found to be important parameters for the successive formation of nanoporous alumina films. First, a high-purity Al foil was electrochemically polished in an aqueous solution containing CHOH and HClO at various sets of conditions, such as applied potential (5-35 V), temperature (0-20 °C), and process duration (10-180 s). Extensive studies of the topography of Al after polishing by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy allow verification of the correlations between conditions applied during the substrate pretreatment and dimensions of the nanopatterns generated on the metal surface.