Development of anti-corrosive coating on AZ31 Mg alloy subjected to plasma electrolytic oxidation at sub-zero temperature

Plasma electrolytic oxidation(PEO)is a promising surface treatment to generate adherent and thick anti-corrosive coating on light-weight metals(Al,Mg,Ti,etc.)using an eco-friendly alkaline electrolyte.High energy plasma,however,inevitably generates porous structures that limit their practical performance.The present study proposes a straight-forward simple method by utilizing sub-zero electrolyte(268 K)to alter the plasma characteristics during formation of the protective coating on AZ31 Mg alloy via PEO with a comparison to the electrolyte at room temperature(298 K).In refrigerated electrolyte,the formation of micro-defects is suppressed relatively at the expense of low coating growth,which is measured to be twice lower than that at 298 K due to the temperature-dependent soft plasma discharges contributing to the development of the present coating.As a consequence,corrosion resistance of the sample processed at 268 K is superior to that of 298K,implying that the effect of coating thickness is less dominant than that of compactness.This phenomenon is interpreted in relation to the ionic movement and oxide solidification controlled by soft plasma discharges arising from the temperature gradient between electrolyte and surface of the substrate during PEO.