Formation of Nanoporous Tin Oxide Layers on Different Substrates during Anodic Oxidation in Oxalic Acid Electrolyte

Abstract EN

Nanoporous tin oxide layers were obtained on various Sn substrates including high- and low-purity foils and wire by one-step anodic oxidation carried out in a 0.3 M oxalic acid electrolyte at various anodizing potentials.

In general, amorphous oxide layers with the atomic ratio of Sn : O (1 : 1) were grown during anodization, and a typical structure of the as-obtained film consists of the “outer” layer with less regular, interconnetted pores and the “inner” layer with much more uniform and regular channels formed as a result of vigorous gas evolution.

It was found that the use of electrochemical cell with the sample placed horizontally on the metallic support and stabilized by the Teflon cover, instead of the typical two-electrode system with vertically arranged electrodes, can affect the morphology of as-obtained layers and allows fabrication of nanoporous oxides even at anodizing potentials up to 11 V.

An average pore diameter in the “outer” oxide layer increases with increasing anodizing potential, and no significant effect of substrate purity on the structure of anodic film was proved, except better uniformity of the oxides grown on high-purity Sn.

A strong linear relationship between the average steady-state current density and anodizing potential was also observed.