Fabrication of Self-Ordered Porous Alumina via Etidronic Acid Anodizing and Structural Color Generation from Submicrometer-Scale Dimple Array

Highly ordered anodic porous alumina with a large-scale cell diameter was successfully fabricated via anodizing in a new electrolyte, etidronic acid (1-hydroxyethane-1,1-diphosphonic acid). High-purity aluminum specimens were anodized in a 0.3 M etidronic acid solution under constant current density and voltage conditions. Etidronic acid anodizing at 210 to 270 V at the appropriate temperature caused the anodic porous alumina to exhibit self-ordering behavior, and periodic nanostructures measuring 530 to 670 nm in cell diameter were fabricated on the aluminum substrate. The self-ordering voltage and the corresponding cell diameter could be increased without burning by systematically increasing the stepwise voltage. Two-step etidronic acid anodizing without nanoimprinting can easily yield the formation of highly ordered anodic porous alumina with a large-scale cell diameter. A submicrometer-scale dimple array fabricated via etidronic acid anodizing and subsequent selective oxide dissolution gave rise to bright structural color with a rainbow distribution.

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