Abstract

The morphological development of porous anodic films in the initial stages is examined during anodising an Al-3.5 wt % Cu alloy in phosphoric acid. Using transmission electron microscopy a sequence of ultramicrotomed anodic sections reveals the dynamic evolution of numerous features in the thickening film in the initial stages of anodising. The morphological changes in the anodic oxide in the initial stages of its formation appears related to the formation of bubbles during film growth. From Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) analysis of the film, the formation of the bubbles is associated with the enrichment of copper in the alloy due to growth of the anodic oxide. On the other hand, during constant current anodising of Al-Cu in phosphoric acid, the current efficiency is considerably less than that for anodising superpure aluminium under similar conditions. From the contrasting results between the charge consumed calculated from RBS and the real charge consumed during anodising, oxygen gas bubbles generation and copper oxidation seem to be of less importance on the low efficiency for film formation. It is apparent that the main cause of losing efficiency for film growth on Al-Cu is associated with generation of oxygen at residual second phase, with the development of stresses in the film and, the consequence of these effects on film cracking during film growth.