Influence of surface morphology on oxide growth in porous alumina

The formation of aluminium oxide layers on surfaces with different morphologies prepared by various structuring methods has been analyzed. Different growth rates and thus different oxide thicknesses have been observed under the same reaction parameters on planar surfaces in contrast to convex and concave surfaces with different radii in the curvature. The stronger the curvature of the concave or convex surface, the more the growth rates differ from the growth rates on planar surfaces. The influence of the electrical field strength on those differences is discussed in a simple model.