Effect of Anionic Surfactant on the Growth of Anodic Nanoporous Aluminum Oxide

Nanoporous aluminum oxide film was prepared by anodizing Aluminum in a mixture of 0.3 M H3PO4 with the addition of varying concentration of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS), which is an anionic surfactant. We found that addition of anionic surfactant during anodization of aluminum leads to the delay in dissolution of the formed pores as compared to those prepared without SDS surfactant. The results show that sufficient addition of SDS during anodization of aluminum oxide facilitates pore channel length, pore density and progress in chemical resistance. Morphology of nanoporous oxide with surfactant was confirmed by FE-SEM and EDS. Evaluation of pore diameter, interpore distance, pore density and porosity and uniformity of pores was done with the help of image-J software. Surface dissolution was observed when the concentration of SDS is more than 3.4 × 10−3 M (1g) after 2 hrs in one step anodization at 170 V which means that the optimum tolerance concentration against surface dissolution is less than 3.4 × 10−3 M (1g).