Optical and mechanical studies on free standing amorphous anodic porous alumina formed in oxalic and sulphuric acid

Abstract

Anodic porous alumina (APA) membranes with a uniform pore arrangement typically serve as an ideal template for formation of different types of nanostructured materials. In the present work, APA membranes were synthesized using two-step anodization in 0.3 M of oxalic and 0.3 M of sulphuric acid under the anodization potential of 40 V and 20 V respectively, at 8 °C. Alumina nanowires (ANW) were synthesized by the chemical etching of the APA membranes using phosphoric acid solution. The optical absorbance and reflectance measurements of APA membranes were performed on a spectrometer in the wavelength range of 200–600 nm. The band-gap energy (3.7 and 4.3 eV for oxalic and sulphuric acid) of APA membranes was determined from UV–visible absorption data. The photoluminescence (PL) investigations have revealed the presence of F and F+ defect centers, which could be attributes to oxygen vacancy-related defect centers in oxalic (483 and 466 nm) and sulphuric (423 and 421 nm) alumina. The mechanical properties of amorphous APA membranes were investigated by micro- and nanoindentation techniques. The results indicate that highest hardness (7.70 GPA) and Young’s modulus (138.80 GPA) for sulphuric alumina compared with oxalic alumina. In sulphuric alumina, more number of ANW were observed compared with oxalic alumina.