Formation and capacitance properties of Ti-Al composite oxide film on aluminum

Al specimens were covered with TiO2 film by sol-gel dip-coating and then anodized in ammonium adipate solution.The structure,composition and capacitance properties of the anodic oxide film were investigated by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）,Auger electron spectroscopy （AES）,X-ray diffractometry （XRD） and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy （EIS）.It was found that an anodic oxide film with a dual-layer structure formed between TiO2 coating and Al substrate.The film consisted of an inner Al2O3 layer and an outer Ti-Al composite oxide layer.The thickness of layers varied with the number of times of sol-gel dip-coating.The capacitance of anodic oxide films formed on coated specimens was at most 80% higher than that without TiO2.In film formation mechanism,it was claimed that the formation of composite oxide film was mainly affected by the structure of micro-pores network in TiO2 coating which had an influence on Al3＋ and O2？ ions transport during the anodizing.