• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.292-298
• /
• 2022

In this study, PEO (plasma electrolytic oxidation) film formation behavior of AZ31 Mg alloy under application of 300 Hz pulse current was studied by the analyses of V-t curve, arc generation behavior, PEO film thickness and morphology of PEO films with treatment time in 0.05 M NaOH + 0.05 M Na₂SiO₃ + 0.1 M NaF solution. PEO films was observed to grow after 10 s of application of pulse current together with generation of micro-arcs. PEO film grew linearly with treatment time at a growth rate of about 5.58 ㎛/min at 200 mA/cm² of pulse current but increasing rate of film formation voltage became lowered largely with increasing treatment time after passing about 250 V, suggesting that resistivity of PEO films during micro-arc generation decreases with increasing film formation voltage at more than 250 V.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.10-16
• /
• 2017

This article reports for the first time on the lateral growth of PEO (plasma electrolytic oxidation) films on Al1050 alloy by the application of anodic pulse current in an alkaline electrolyte. Generation of microarcs was observed at the edges initially and then moved towards the central region with PEO treatment time. Disc type PEO film islands with about $20{\mu}m$ diameter were formed first and they grew laterally by the formation of new disc type PEO films at the edge of pre-formed PEO islands. The PEO film islands were found to be interconnected completely and form a continuous PEO film when generation of small size microarcs are terminated at the central part of the specimen, resulting in very smooth surface with low surface roughness less than $1{\mu}m$ of $R_a$. Further PEO treatment after the complete interconnection of PEO films islands showed local thickening of PEO films by vertical growth. It is concluded that very smooth PEO film surface can be obtained by lateral growth mechanism rather than vertical growth of them.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.225-230
• /
• 2016

The present work was conducted to investigate the effects of NaF concentration in phosphate and silicate-containing alkaline electrolyte on the morphology, thickness, surface roughness and hardness of anodic oxide films formed on AZ31 Mg alloy by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) method. The PEO films showed flat surface morphology with pores in the absence of NaF in the electrolyte, but nodular features appeared on the PEO film surface prepared in NaF-containing electrolyte. Numerous pores ranging from 1 to $20{\mu}m$ in size were observed in the PEO films and the size of pores decreased with increasing NaF concentration in the electrolyte. Surface roughness and thickness of PEO films showed increases with increasing NaF concentration. Hardness of the PEO films also increased with increasing NaF concentration. It was noticed that hardness of inner part of the PEO films is lower than that of outer part of them, irrespective of the concentration of NaF. The low hardness of PEO films was explained by the presence of a number of small size pores less than $2{\mu}m$ near the PEO film/substrate interface.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.57 no.2
• /
• pp.86-91
• /
• 2024

In this study, we investigated the effect of Na₂SiO₃ concentration on the Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation(PEO) film formation of Al6061 alloy. The morphology of the PEO films were examined by Optical Microscope(OM) and Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM). PEO film thickness increases as the Na₂SiO₃ concentration increases. The elemental analysis of PEO films was conducted using Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer(EDS). The cross-sectional elemental analysis result shows that the Si concentration tends to increase as the concentration of Na₂SiO₃ increases. X-Ray Diffraction(XRD) analysis was performed to confirm the degree of phase change according to Na₂SiO₃ concentration. In addition, Vickers hardness was measured to confirm the mechanical strength of the PEO film. As the concentration of Na₂SiO₃ increases, the hardness value also tends to increase.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.53 no.2
• /
• pp.59-66
• /
• 2020

Effects of Na₂SiO₃ concentration added into 0.1 M NaOH + 0.05 M NaF solution on the formation behavior and properties of PEO films on AZ91 Mg alloy were investigated under 1200 Hz of alternating current (AC) by voltage-time curves, in-situ observation of arc generation behavior and measurements of film thickness, surface roughness and micro vickers hardness. In the absence of Na₂SiO₃ in the 0.1 M NaOH + 0.05 M NaF solution, about 4 ㎛ thick PEO film was formed within 1 min and then PEO film did not grow but white spots were formed by local burning. Addition of Na₂SiO₃ up to 0.2 M caused more increased formation voltage and growth of PEO film with uniform generation of arcs. Addition of Na₂SiO₃ from 0.2 M to 0.4 M showed nearly the same voltage-time behavior and uniform arc generation. Addition of Na₂SiO₃ more than 0.5 M resulted in a decrease of formation voltage and non-uniform arc generation due to local burning. PEO film growth rate increased with increasing added Na₂SiO₃ concentration but maximum PEO film thickness was limited by local burning if added Na₂SiO₃ concentration is higher than 0.5 M. Surface roughness of PEO film increased with increasing added Na₂SiO₃ concentration and appeared to be proportional to the PEO film thickness. PEO film hardness increased with increasing added Na₂SiO₃ concentration and reached a steady-state value of about 930 H_V at more than 0.5 M of added Na₂SiO₃ concentration.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.52 no.5
• /
• pp.265-274
• /
• 2019

Formation behavior of PEO (Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation) films on AZ31 Mg alloy was investigated under application of 310 Hz AC as a function of $Na_3PO_4$ concentration from 0.02 M to 0.2 M. Film formation voltage and in-situ observation of arcs generated on the specimen surface were recorded with time, and surface morphologies of the PEO films were investigated using optical microscopy, confocal scanning laser microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. PEO film formation voltage decreased linearly with increasing $Na_3PO_4$ concentration which is attributed to the increase of solution pH. PEO films were grown uniformly over the entire surface in $Na_3PO_4$ solutions between 0.05 M and 0.1 M. However, non-uniform PEO films with white spots were formed in $Na_3PO_4$ solutions containing more than 0.1 M. Thickness and roughness of PEO films on AZ31 Mg alloy increased linearly with increasing $Na_3PO_4$ concentration and their increasing rates appeared to be much higher under 1 M than above 1 M. The experimental results suggest that phosphate ions can contribute to the formation of PEO films but higher $Na_3PO_4$ concentration more than 1 M results in local damages of PEO films due to repeated generation of white arcs at the same surface site of AZ31 Mg alloy.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.50 no.5
• /
• pp.308-314
• /
• 2017

Anodic film formation behavior of AZ31 Mg alloy was studied as a function of NaOH concentration in 1 M $Na_2CO_3$ + 0.5 M $Na_2SiO_3$ solution under the application of a constant anodic current density, based on the analyses of voltage-time curves, surface appearances and morphologies of the anodically formed PEO (plasma electrolytic oxidation) films. The anodic film formation voltage and its fluctuations became largely lowered with increasing added NaOH concentration in the solution. Two different types of film defects, large size dark spots indented from the original surface and locally extruded white spots, were observed on the PEO-treated surface, depending on the concentration of added NaOH. The large size dark spots appeared only when added NaOH concentration is less than 0.2 M and they seem to result from the local detachments of porous PEO films. The white spots were observed to be very porous and locally extruded and their size became smaller with increasing added NaOH concentration. The white spot defects disappeared completely when more than 0.8 M NaOH is added in the solution. Concludingly it is suggested that the presence of enough concentration of $OH^-$ ions in the carbonate and silicate ion-containing electrolyte can prevent local thickening and/or detachment of the PEO films on the AZ31 Mg alloy surface and lower the PEO film formation voltage less than 70 V.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.8-11
• /
• 2010

During PEO (plasma-electrolytic-oxidation) treatment of titanium, the relationship between the thickness of oxide film and the measured electrical information was investigated. A simple real time monitoring method based on the electrical information being gathered during PEO treatment is proposed. The proposed method utilizes the current flowing from a high frequency voltage source to calculate the resistance of an oxide film, which is converted into the thickness of an oxide film. This monitoring method can be implemented in PEO system in which an oxide film is grown by constant or pulsed voltage/current sources.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Dyers and Finishers Conference
• /
• 2008.10a
• /
• pp.11-12
• /
• 2008

Poly(ethylene oxide)(PEO) of molecular weight of 300,000 was crosslinked by UV irradiation in the presence of crosslinker. The photochemical crosslinking of PEO was enhanced by the addition of dimethacrylate crosslinkers in the film. Percent conversion of the polymer into gel as well as water absorbency were investigated gravimetrically. Gel fraction of PEO films increased with increasing crosslinker concentration. In the case of photocrosslinked PEO films with benzophenone, gel fraction reached about 95%. The thermal behavior of crosslinked PEO films was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis. The maximum decomposition temperature increased with increasing crosslinker concentration.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.49 no.1
• /
• pp.46-53
• /
• 2016

The structure of plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) coatings was investigated as a function of NaOH concentration in 0.06 M $Na_2SiO_3$ + 0.06 M $Na_3PO_4$ solution by using SEM and epoxy replica method. The PEO film was formed on AZ31 Mg alloy by the application of anodic pulse current with 0.2 ms width and its formation behavior was studied by voltage-time curves during the formation of PEO films. It was found that the addition of NaOH into $PO_4{^{3-}}$ and $SiO_3{^{2-}}$ containing aqueous solution causes a decrease in the PEO film formation voltage, suggesting that dielectric breakdown of the PEO becomes easier with increasing $OH^-$ ion concentration in the solution. With increasing $OH^-$ ion concentration, thickness of the PEO film increased and surface roughness decreased. The size of pores formed in the PEO layer became smaller and the number of cracks in the PEO layer increased with increasing $OH^-$ ion concentration. Based on the experimental results obtained in the work, it is suggested that $OH^-$ ions in the solution can contribute not only to the dielectric breakdown but also to the formation of PEO films in the presence of $PO_4{^{3-}}$ and $SiO_3{^{2-}}$ ions in the solution.