Ageing effects in the growth of chromate conversion coatings on aluminium

Conversion coatings have been formed in two stages on sputtering-deposited aluminium using a chromate/fluoride bath. The first stage, common to all specimens, was conversion treatment for 1 min to produce a coating of thickness of about 70 nm, with associated thinning of the aluminium substrate. Further treatment was then carried out for 13 min, either immediately or with intervening ageing in humid air, water or laboratory air. Notably, ageing in laboratory air for 1 h was sufficient to prevent significant growth of new coating material upon re-immersion in the coating bath. In contrast, ageing in humid air or water allowed additional thickening of the coating, although with a reduced growth rate. The behaviour appears to be related to loss of free or weakly bound water from the coatings in laboratory air, with the composition and structure of the coating being modified such that transport of reactant and product species of the coating process is impeded.