Corrosion properties of plasma electrolytic oxidation coatings on an aluminium alloy - The effect of the PEO process stage

Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) coatings were grown on an aluminium alloy substrate using different processing parameters which enabled samples to be coated to different stages of the PEO process. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and linear polarization resistance (LPR) techniques were employed to investigate the impedance properties of the resulting oxide coatings which will determine the corrosion performance of the coated alloy. Scanning electron microscopy was used to relate the morphology of the coatings with their corrosion performance. A direct relationship was found between the stage of the PEO process, which affects the microstructure of the coatings, and the corrosion performance. Coating thickness and phase composition did not have any measurable influence on coating corrosion performance. To some degree corrosion performance could be tailored by the processing parameters.