No abstract

Metal-based microchannel devices have wide-ranging applications. We report here a method to electrochemically anodize the internal surfaces of Al microchannels, with the purpose of forming a uniform and dense anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) layer on microchannel internal surfaces for chemical passivation and corrosion resistance. A pulsed electrolyte flow was utilized to emulate conventional anodization processes while replenishing depleted ionic species within Al microtubes and microchannels. After anodization, the AAO film was sealed in hot water to close the nanopores. Focused ion beam (FIB) sectioning, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were utilized to characterize the AAO morphology and composition. Potentiodynamic polarization corrosion testing of anodized Al microtube half-sections in a NaCl solution showed an order of magnitude decrease in anodic corrosion current when compared to an unanodized tube. The surface passivation process was repeated for Al-based microchannel heat exchangers. A corrosion testing method based on the anodization process showed higher resistance to ion transport through the anodized specimens than unanodized specimens, thus verifying the internal anodization and sealing process as a viable method for surface passivation of Al microchannel devices.

No abstract

Bamboo-type TiO2 nanotube arrays with high surface area can be synthesized by alternating voltage (AV) anodization for their important use as photocatalytic medium. Their morphologies are highly dependent on preparation parameters including anodization time and electrolyte composition. Minimum time of high-voltage steps required for forming desired bamboo ridge spacing on these nanotubes can be calculated from current-time profiles recorded during potentiostatic anodization at the voltage. Water content in NH4F-containing ethylene glycol (EG) electrolytes is optimized simply from analyses of current transients or current-voltage relations for anodization in EG electrolytes with different amount of water, in order to achieve efficient electrochemical growth of TiO2 nanotubes for large ridge density and long tube length. Two types of bamboo-type TiO2 nanotubes with the same length of 5.46 microm but different ridge spacing are synthesized for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV radiation. Both of the bamboo-type nanotube arrays show improved photo catalysis compared to smooth TiO2 nanotubes of the same length, due to their larger surface area favorable for heterogeneous catalytic processes. In particular, the apparent rate constant of photocatalytic degradation on bamboo-type nanotubes is up to 29.4% higher than that for degradation on smooth ones.