Plasma electrolytic oxidation of metals

In this lecture results of the investigation of plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) process on some metals (aluminum, titanium, tantalum, magnesium, and zirconium) were presented. Whole process involves anodizing metals above the dielectric breakdown voltage where numerous micro-discharges are generated continuously over the coating surface. For the characterization of PEO process optical emission spectroscopy and real-time imaging were used. These investigations enabled the determination of electron temperature, electron number density, spatial density of micro-discharges, the active surface covered by micro-discharges, and dimensional distribution of micro-discharges at various stages of PEO process. Special attention was focused on the results of the study of the morphology, chemical, and phase composition of oxide layers obtained by PEO process on aluminum, tantalum, and titanium in electrolytes containing tungsten. Physicochemical methodes: atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS), x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy served as tools for examining obtained oxide coatings. Also, the application of the obtained oxide coatings, especially the application of TiO2/WO3 coatings in photocatalysis, were discussed.