Effects of toner particles addition on fabrication and characterizations of aluminum oxide layers

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of toner particles as a waste material on the fabrication and properties of aluminum oxide layers was investigated. To achieve this purpose, a process of phosphoric acid/toner particle anodizing was performed. The concentration of toner particles in the anodizing bath changed from 3 to 10 g/L. The microstructure, the chemical composition, the electrochemical and mechanical properties of the produced layers were investigated. Filed emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images depicted that by the presence of toner particles in the anodizing bath, the mean diameter of pores for oxide layers decreased 5–30% and the mean thickness of the cell wall for layers increased about 1.25–3 times. Both polarization and electrochemical impendence spectroscopy (EIS) tests results showed that the corrosion protection of produced oxide layers increased in the presence of toner particles. When the concentration of toner particles in the bath was 10 g/L, the wear rate and friction coefficient reduced significantly compared to other oxide layers. Such behavior was attributed to the changes in the morphology and the hardness of the produced oxide layer. In addition, the suggested wear mechanism changed to abrasive and little adhesive wear mode when the toner particles added to the anodizing bath. Moreover, the highest indentation toughness with the value of 2.1 MPam0.5 was related to the aluminum oxide layer when the concentration of toner particles in the bath was 3 g/L.