Coloring the aluminum alloy surface in plasma electrolytic oxidation with the green pigment colloid

Abstract Chromium oxide pigment is a promising electrolyte additive to green the aluminum alloy surface with plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) because of its opacity, outdoor durability, and hardness. Initial coating efforts reveal that pigment and adsorbed dispersant, with extra negative charges, dramatically raise positive current and cause power fluctuations under the constant-voltage mode. Accordingly, research attention is redirected to a search of proper electrical parameters under constant current with a required amount of pigment and dispersant. The parameters for green coating involve; 92 mA cm − 2 in positive and negative current densities, 10–20% in duty ratio, 500 Hz in frequency, when the electrolyte is formulated with 10 g dm − 3 pigment and 0.8 g dm − 3 dispersant. Microstructure analysis shows that the resultant coating comprises two layers of different compositions; the top layer is a mixture of chromia and alumina, a dense layer underneath involves nearly 100% alumina. Phase analysis indicates that the aluminum oxide crystallizes in γ- and α-alumina both. A small amount of α-alumina exists in solid solution with chromium. Although the as-received pigment is oxygen deficient, similar to Cr 2 O 2.4 in crystal structure, the oxidative plasma of PEO converts it into stoichiometric Cr 2 O 3 .