Effect of Current Density on Porous Film Formation in Two-Step Anodizing for Al Alloy

Anodizing is a technology to generate thicker and high-quality films than natural oxide films by treating metals via electrochemical methods. Electrochemical manufacturing method of nano structure is an efficient technology in terms of cost reduction, high productivity and complicated shapes, which receives the spotlight in diverse areas. Especially, artificial films generated by anodizing technology possess excellent mechanical characteristics including hardness and wear resistance. It is also easy to modify thickness and adjust shape of those artificial films so that they are mainly used in sensors, filters, optical films and electrolytic condensers. In this study, experiment was performed to observe the effect of current density on porous film formation in two-step anodizing for Al alloy. Anodizing process was performed with 10 vol.% sulfuric acid electrolyte while the temperature was maintained at $10^{\circ}C$ using a double beaker. and $10{\sim}30mA/cm^2$ was applied for 40 minutes using a galvanostatic method. As a result, both pore diameters and distances between pores tended to increase as the local temperature and electrolysis activity increased due to the increase in applied current density.