Surfactant-assisted growth of anodic nanoporous niobium oxide with a grained surface

Nanoporous niobium oxide film with a maximum thickness of 520 nm was prepared by anodizing niobium in a mixture of 1 wt% HF, 1 M H3PO4, and a small amount of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) surfactant. The porosity of the anodic niobium oxide prepared without SDS is irregular with the surface of the oxide suggesting a grained surface pattern rather than an ordered porous structure. A proper amount of SDS addition can prepare a pore arrangement with stripe patterns. The pore depth and surface pattern were strongly affected by the concentration of SDS and bath temperature. We found that the addition of SDS surfactant facilitated improvement in the chemical resistance of niobium oxide, leading to the formation of pores with a longer length compared to those prepared without a SDS surfactant. This can be in part ascribed to the protection of the surface by the physical adsorption of SDS on the surface due to a charge–charge interaction and be in part attributed to the formation of NbO bonding on the outermost oxide layer by SDS. When anodization was carried out for 4 h, the surface dissolution of niobium oxide was observed, which means that the maximum tolerance time against chemical dissolution was less than 4 h.