The effects of electropolishing on the nanochannel ordering of the porous anodic alumina prepared in oxalic acid

A series of porous anodic alumina has been prepared by anodizing aluminum surface in 0.3 M oxalic acid at different voltages. Prior to anodizing, the surface was pretreated in two different electropolishing electrolytes. One was Brytal solution (15% Na₂CO₃ and 5% Na₃PO₄) at 80 °C in which the electropolishing was performed at 2 V. This resulted in about 100–150 nm apart random features of 4–5 nm height. The other was the commonly employed perchloric acid–alcohol solution (1:4 ratio by volume), in which the electropolishing was performed at 20 V. The resulting surface comprised nanostripes of 1–2 nm amplitude with a wavelength of about 50 nm. The former pretreatment proved better for self-ordering of the pores at the anodizing voltage of 50–60 V, while the latter pretreatment was found better at the anodizing voltage of 40 V. The improved pore ordering at a given voltage was attributed to the higher pore density as associated with greater repulsive interactions among the pores.