I was doing some numerical simulations with aluminum as a metal. I am well aware that aluminium forms an oxide layer at its outer surface which prevents further oxidation.
Can someone guide me to some literature or tell from experience that how thick is the oxide layer?
Is the thickness same whether my structure is a bulk structure or it is just a few hundreds of nanometer thick?
Dear fellow researcher,
A usually thickness of passive film on the Al are from 1 to 10 nm.
Some references:
H.P. Goddard, Mater. Perform. 20 (7) (1981) 9;
R.W. Revie, H.H. Uhlig, Corrosion and Corrosion Control, fourth ed., John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, 2008;
R.W. Revie, Uhlig’s Corrosion Handbook, third ed., John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, 2011.
Best regards,
Gedvidas
The thickness developed can slightly vary depending upon temperature at which Al is reacting with oxygen. You can also calculate it by considering the thickness just sufficient to prevent the further diffusion across it (at particular temperature).
Mahummad
Usually when aluminum is exposed to air at room temperature, the thickness of alumina formed on the surface would be about 3 to 4 Angstrom, and if it is left longer time the alumina thickness grows to 30 to 40 Angstrom and stops there. Hope this helps you out.
Dr. K
Hii Akeshwar,
Regarding your answer in this forum, I wanted to request you if you provide some hints on such a calculation.
Regards and Thanks
Pramit
Hi,
In my opinion, the most appropriate method is the ellipsometric-more reference:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Ways_of_measuring_thin_film_thickness
Kind regards
We have studied this considerably via ellipsometry and XPS. See for example
Conference Paper Using ellipsometry and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for ...
it will be 2nm within hrs. the growth is logarithmic with time. after years 3.5 to 5 nm depending on conditions. It never real stops.
One comment, which may not be really interesting for you, but can be useful for others who might read your question:
The thickness and properties of the oxide layer on Al (aluminium) also depends on the environment. It is typically said there is a passive Al oxide layer. Such types of Al oxide layers are not passive at alkaline environment (in particular, for highly alkaline mediums). Then their thickness is far from what we expect as it is not passive anymore.
Very True. Aqueous is very different from air and alkaline is especially so. Thanks for clarifying.
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