Using gibbs standard state free energy and a power regulating device to predict and control the fabrication of nanoporous alumina

Abstract

The basic concept of Gibbs standard state free energy predicts a favorable condition for both room and high temperature fabrication of nanoporous alumina in phosphoric acid electrolyte. The anodization of aluminum foil in acidic electrolytes is made possible by the well known process parameters that have been studied over the years. These parameters i.e. voltage, current density, type of electrolyte etc have been very effective when anodizing aluminum at freezing temperatures. When the operating temperature is raised above the freezing temperature, additional process parameters would be required to make the pore formation possible. The fabrication of the aluminum foil was carried out using phosphoric acid as the electrolyte source. The electrolyte pH was adjusted to 1, 3 and 5 in order to simulate different anodizing conditions. A potential of 50 V from a dc power supply was applied across the electrochemical cell, while a power regulating device with different power rating was attached to the electrochemical cell to provide the operating system with additional parameters that could influence the surface structure of the alumina. The micrographs obtained show that the propagation and growth of the pores at both room and high temperatures was made possible by the power regulating device attached to the cell.