Self-ordering of anodic nanoporous alumina fabricated by accelerated mild anodization method

A processing method called accelerated mild anodization is developed for preparation of high density and uniform nanoporous by anodization of aluminum. The idea is to use two different temperatures for sides of sample in order to maintain mid level of current density during the anodization process. Here we have used high temperature for the back side of the sample in order to increase the current density while the electrolyte is kept at low temperature in the level of mild anodization. It is shown that not only the film growth is considerably fast, almost ten times faster than mild anodization, but also the anodization voltage is constant and anodization current variation is much less compared to hard anodization technique. Using oxalic acid, interpore distances of 89, 104, 117 and 130 nm were obtained for 35, 40,45 and 50 V voltages, respectively. It is found that the interpore distances are proportional to the anodization potential almost same as that for the mild anodization. The porosity obtained tended to obey the same rule as that in mild anodization. This method is promising for industrial application due to short fabrication time as well as high-speed pore ordering. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.