Anodic Aluminum Oxide

Student: Dustin Lewis

Faculty Mentor: Hongtao Shi

Physics & Astronomy

College of Science, Technology, and Business

This project investigates the creation and characterization of anodic aluminum oxide utilizing both standard ethanol/perchloric acid electropolishing as well as the more environmentally friendly Brytal process. Anodic Aluminum Oxide (AAO) is a useful nanomaterial for the fabrication of other nanodevices and has a number of applications in sensing as well. The production process is highly sensitive, and this allows a great degree of control over the end product. Electropolishing through the Brytal process has been investigated by others previously with lackluster results, although the polished surface seems promising prior to anodization. Characterization was performed via a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) in order to determine the roughness of polished substrates as well as analyze final samples following anodization.