Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6469576 | Electrochemistry Communications | 2017 | 5 Pages |
â¢An abrasive-free polishing process using anodic etching is applied to tungsten alloy.â¢Current-driven ECP has high polishing efficiency but no flattening effect.â¢Potential-driven ECP can realize an ultra-smooth surface with limited efficiency.â¢Surface Ra roughness is reduced from 651.8 nm to 17.6 nm by two-step ECP process.
Tungsten alloy is a crucial engineering material for electrical and optical applications. However, damage-free and highly efficient polishing of tungsten has not been realized yet. We report the abrasive-free polishing of tungsten alloy using electrochemical polishing (ECP), which is an etching process. To achieve balance between polishing efficiency and surface quality, a two-step ECP process has been proposed. Current-driven ECP lasting for 3Â min, as the first step, quickly removed the surface grinding marks and subsurface damage while the following potential-driven ECP lasted for 20Â min, as the second step, improved the surface roughness and an ultra-smooth surface with an Ra roughness of 17.6Â nm was finally obtained.