Nano-TiO2 coatings on aluminum surfaces by aerosol flame synthesis

• Nanosized TiO2 particles produced by aerosol flame synthesis
• Coatings of aluminum substrates with TiO2 nanoparticles by thermophoretic deposition in flames
• Thickness measurement by confocal microscopy
• Improvement of the electrochemical behavior with respect to the bare aluminum

Aluminum alloys are widely used in the aeronautic industry for their high mechanical properties; however, because they are very sensitive to corrosion, surface treatments are often required. TiO2 has excellent resistance to oxidation and it is often used to improve the corrosion resistance of aluminum surfaces. Several coating procedures have been proposed over the years, which are in some cases expensive in terms of production time and amount of deposited material. Moreover, they can damage aluminum alloys if thermal treatments are required. In this paper, a one-step method for the coating of aluminum surfaces with titania nanoparticles is presented. Narrowly sized, TiO2 nanoparticles are synthesized by flame aerosol and directly deposited by thermophoresis onto cold plates of aluminum AA2024. Submicron coatings of different thicknesses are obtained from two flame synthesis conditions by varying the total deposition time. A fuel-lean synthesis condition was used to produce 3.5 nm pure anatase nanoparticles, while a mixture of rutile and anatase nanoparticles having 22 nm diameter — rutile being the predominant phase —, was synthesized in a fuel-rich condition. Scanning electron microscopy is used to characterize morphology of titania films, while coating thickness is measured by confocal microscopy measurements. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is used to evaluate corrosion resistance of coated aluminum substrates. Results show an improvement of the electrochemical behavior of titania coated surfaces as compared to pristine aluminum surfaces. The best results are obtained by covering the substrates with 3.5 nm anatase-phase nanoparticles and with lower deposition times, that assure a uniform surface coating.