Control of surface topography on aluminium prior to coating application

The study investigates the influence of nickel and magnesium additions to AA1050 aluminium alloy on the alloy electrochemical behaviour in sodium hydroxide and nitric acid solutions under conditions relevant to industries that use alkaline etching as a standard surface treatment procedure and to the lithographic and electronic industries where surface convolution is assisted by pitting in nitric acid. Nickel is shown to be incorporated into second phase particles, which mostly consisted of Al3Fe and α-(AlFeSi) phases, resulting in enhanced cathodic activity on the aluminium surface. In contrast, the addition of magnesium to the alloy had negligible influence on the etching and pitting behaviour