Structural and electrochemical performance of sputtered Al–Ce films on AA6061 aluminum alloy substrates

XPS and EIS studies of sputtered Al–Ce films formed on AA6061 aluminum alloy in 3.5% NaCl solution

“…2), while in another spectra, the Al 2 O 3 /Al o signals were overlapped and it was hard to separate the signals. The presence of Al o in the coatings confirms that the Al-Ce films were deposited in the metallic form and later their surface oxidation under ambient conditions occurred, which had been previously suggested [13]. High-resolution spectra of Ce3d 5/2 and Ce3d 3/2 are shown in Fig.…”

“…In the first set, the pressure was increased from 6.67 9 10 -1 to 4 Pa at 200 W (p 0.667 P 200 t 300 , p 1.333 P 200 t 300 , p 4 P 200 t 300 ); and in the second set, power was varied from 40 to 280 W at a constant pressure of 4 Pa (p 4 P 280 t 300 , p 4 P 120 t 300 and p 4 P 40 t 300 ). The synthesis of sputtered Al-Ce coatings and information of the magnetron sputtering apparatus have been described in detail elsewhere [13].…”

“…Previously discussed results have shown that the deposition parameters exert a strong influence on the morphology, thickness and Al/Ce ratio [13]. Due to the fact that the electrochemical performance depends on the cerium quantity and thickness, Table 1 displays the experimental results focused on thickness and Al/Ce ratio.…”

“…The survey spectrum recorded for the samples reveals that besides Al and Ce, significant amounts of O were present in the outer layer of the coatings. The presence of partial O has been formerly attributed to the reactivity of Al and Ce under ambient conditions [13,25]. There is also a small amount of C on the surface of the thin films; however, this may be the adsorbed C from the air.…”

“…In a series of papers [11,12], several researchers demonstrated that treatments with aqueous solutions of rare earth salts (cerium, lanthanum, neodymium and yttrium) effectively inhibited the corrosion of aluminum alloys. In a recent published work, we investigated the relationship between the microstructure of sputtered Al-Ce thin films as a new alternative to improve the corrosion resistance of AA6061 aluminum alloys by RF magnetron sputtering [13]. This study revealed that the selected parameters (power and pressure) have a high influence on the composition of the film probably as a consequence of the significant difference in the sputtering yield of Ce and Al, depending on the operating conditions.…”