Preparation of porous anodic alumina templates using a sulfuric/oxalic acid mixture as electrolyte

Well ordered porous anodic alumina (PAA) film was prepared on pure Al substrate using sulfuric/oxalic acid mixture as electrolyte with different ratios, the best regular PAA film with an average diameter of 45 nm was obtained using 1:1 sulfuric/oxalic (molar concentration) mixed acid at 26 V. Addition of oxalic acid into sulfuric acid electrolyte resulted in the increase of anodizing current density, indicating a faster formation rate of PAA film. In 1:1 sulfuric/oxalic acid electrolyte, the current density was the biggest, which illustrated that the formed barrier layer was the thinnest. Besides, addition of oxalic acid increased the stress of oxide film, accordingly changed the self-organized process of PAA film. XPS results indicate that the PAA film is mainly composed of amorphous alumina independent of oxalic acid addition.