Effect of pore widening time on the structural aspects of self-organized nanopore arrays formed by anodization of aluminum in chromic acid

Abstract

Anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) membranes were prepared by two-step anodization of aluminum formed in 0.3M chromic acid at the ambient temperature of ~ 30� C with anodization potential of 50 V. The radial average fast Fourier transform based study of nanopores has been carried out. The duration of the pore widening was varied from 0min to 60min in steps of 15 minutes. The effect of the pore widening time on the structural parameters of porous anodic alumina such as pore diameter (Dp), interpore distance (Dc), porosity (P) and pore density (n) were studied. It was observed that pore diameter and porosity increased with increasing pore widening time. Highly ordered and better nanopore array of AAO membrane was obtained for the sample anodized in chromic acid with 60 min pore widening time. � 2016 Elsevier Ltd.