Titanium anodization efficiency through live gravimetric measurement of oxygen evolution

Abstract

Anodization is an easy and reliable treatment to improve titanium corrosion resistance in severe environments. In previous studies its effectiveness in enhancing oxide film resistance in halides was correlated with anodization cell voltage. To increase treatment industrial applicability, energy efficiency has to be maximized. For this purpose, a gravimetric approach was applied to study oxygen evolution during titanium anodic oxidation. Anodization efficiencies, calculated from on-line O2 evolution measurement, were used to determine the most efficient galvanostatic anodization treatment by comparing different anodic current densities, from 1 to 20 mA/cm2, and different electrolytes (H2SO4 − K2SO4). Anodization cell voltages were correlated with oxide thickness through indirect spectrophotometric measurements to compare the amount of charge needed to reach a certain film thickness in different anodization conditions.