Aloha, fun & authoritative answers -- no cost, no registration, no passwords, no popups
(as an eBay Partner & Amazon Affiliate we earn from qualifying purchases)

Home /
T.O.C.
Fun
FAQs
Good
Books
Ref.
Libr.
Adver-
tise
Help
Wanted
Current
Q&A's
Site 🔍
Search
pub  Where the
world gathers for metal finishing
Q&As since 1989



-----

Anodizing aluminum with formic or citric acid

none
finishing.com is made possible by ...
this text gets replaced with bannerText
spacer gets replaced with bannerImages


probertEthumb Aluminum How-To
"Chromating - Anodizing - Hardcoating"
by Robert Probert

You'll love this book. Finishing.com has sold 880 copies over the years without ever a single return request :-)


Q. Hi, I would like to ask whether it is possible to anodise aluminium using less aggressive acids than sulfuric such as formic or citric.

John Payton
- Norwich, Norfolk, England
2006


A. To me, the two nastiest acids are hydrofluoric and formic, so I would not even start to consider formic.
Less aggressive acids might be phosphoric or boric/sulfuric. Literature is available on both.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida


"The Surface
Treatment &
Finishing of
Aluminium and
Its Alloys"

by Wernick, Pinner
& Sheasby

pinner
on AbeBooks

or eBay or

Amazon

(affil links)

A. Hi John. It is possible to anodize in just about any acid -- if by 'anodize' you mean make the part anodic and build some sort of film on it -- because almost any acid will conduct electricity. But the characteristics of that film will vary tremendously based on the anodizing conditions and they would not approximate the film formed in 10-12 percent sulfuric acid.

Remember that in sulfuric acid anodizing the sulfuric acid is constantly attacking and dissolving the anodized film, leaving a honeycomb type structure, and other acids may not dissolve the anodizing i a similar way.

tartaric acid [on eBay or Amazon], phosphoric acid, chromic acid and boric acid are a few of the commercially used acids, but the coating does not look or function anything like a sulfuric anodized surface.

"Aggressive" toward human biology and aggressive towards aluminum are not the same thing, and I'm not sure which you mean. Good luck.

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey



Readers may wish to also see:

Topic 43230 "Alternative to sulfuric acid for anodizing aluminum"



(No "dead threads" here! If this page isn't currently on the Hotline your Q, A, or Comment will restore it)

Q, A, or Comment on THIS thread -or- Start a NEW Thread

Disclaimer: It's not possible to fully diagnose a finishing problem or the hazards of an operation via these pages. All information presented is for general reference and does not represent a professional opinion nor the policy of an author's employer. The internet is largely anonymous & unvetted; some names may be fictitious and some recommendations might be harmful.

If you are seeking a product or service related to metal finishing, please check these Directories:

 
Jobshops
Capital
Equipment
Chemicals &
Consumables
Consult'g, Train'g
& Software


About/Contact  -  Privacy Policy  -  ©1995-2024 finishing.com, Pine Beach, New Jersey, USA  -  about "affil links"