5. Conclusions
A new approach for the study of the influence of temperature
on the anodic oxide growth on aluminium is presented.
Anodizing experiments are performed under conditions of applied
and controlled electrode temperature. This approach not only
offers an improved temperature control during the experimental
study, but also enables to distinguish and separately compare
the influence of the electrode temperature, and of the electrolyte
temperature on the process. The presented experimental study
indicates that all considered aspects of anodic oxide growth on
aluminium display a larger susceptibility to the electrode temperature
than to the electrolyte temperature. By applying the
electrode temperature, the temperature at the boundary where
the electrochemistry occurs, i.e., at the aluminium–oxide interface,
is directly applied and controlled. This approach clearly
affects the process to a larger extent than varying the electrolyte
temperature. The electrochemical behaviour of the anode,
the morphology and thickness of the formed oxide layer, as
well as the formation ratio, all display larger variations with
increasing electrode temperatures than with increasing electrolyte
temperatures.