Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Resistance of Thin Ceria and Phosphate Mono- and Multilayers Deposited on Technically Pure Al 1050

Calcium phosphates are often used for biomedical applications. Hydroxyapatite, for example, has a wide range of applications because it mimics the mineral component of natural bone. Widespread interest in the catalytic properties of ceria is due to its use in automotive catalytic converters. Effect of electroless deposited on (non-anodized and anodized) Al 1050 with monolayer Ce2O3 + CeO2, consecutive deposited bilayer Ce2O3 + CeO2/Ca5(PO4)3OH or consecutive deposited bilayer Ce2O3 + CeO2/(AlPO4 + AlOOH + CePO4) systems on the indentation modulus (EIT) and hardness (HIT), as well as their corrosion-protective ability were investigated. For structural, chemical, electrochemical, and mechanical characterization of the investigated systems, the following methods were used: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), polarization resistance (Rp), corrosion rate (CR) analysis, and nanoindentation. It was found that the HIT and EIT of the coatings deposited on an anodized aluminum substrate were much higher than those deposited on a non-anodized aluminum substrate. It established a specific influence of the morphology and chemical composition of formed conversion layers on HIT and EIT and improved the corrosion-protective effect of these layers. The obtained results are valuable since there is no data on the mechanical properties of such coatings in the literature to date.