Abstract
Anodization is a widespread surface treatment method for aluminum and its alloys; it also allows the formation of 1D nanostructures by a two-step process. Microstructure of the Al substrate and crystallographic texture after rolling and annealing have influence on the properties of AAO templates with conical nanopores. Synthesized free-standing 1D nanostructures ensure better electrocatalytic properties than bulk materials due to larger active surface area. In this work, the influence of annealing time at 500 °C on Vickers hardness and microstructure of aluminum AA1050 used in a two-step anodization process was investigated. The geometrical features of the templates such as interpore distance and number of pores per 1 μm2 were determined and compared. There is dependence between the time of the annealing process and surface quality of synthesized 1D Cu nanocone layers. The template, after 1 h of annealing, due to the largest active area and satisfactory quality of the nanocone surface, was chosen for synthesis of Co nanocones. The electrocatalytic properties of samples were measured in 1 M NaOH solution and compared with bulk material electrodeposited in the same conditions. The open circuit potential, connected with starting of hydrogen evolution reaction, was determined from the LSV curves. Active surface areas were determined for all samples using SEM photographs and taken into consideration during electrocatalytic tests. Possible behavior of hydrogen bubbles for the formation of nanostructures was considered.
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