Microstructure and corrosion behavior of micro-arc oxidation coating on 6061 aluminum alloy pre-treated by high-temperature oxidation

In this paper, we investigate the microstructure and corrosion behavior of the micro-arc oxidation (MAO) coating on 6061 aluminum alloy that pre-treated by high-temperature oxidation (HTO). Microstructure, chemical and corrosion behaviors of the fabricated MAO ceramic coatings were studied by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and electrochemical corrosion tests. The results reveal that the pre-fabricated HTO film remarkably affects the formation of the MAO coating, leads to an enriched content of Mg, and decreases the compactness of the coating. The corrosion resistance of the 6061 aluminum alloy has been significantly improved by treatments of HTO, normal MAO (NMAO) and HTO pre-treated MAO (HTO-MAO), and the NMAO coating exhibits the best corrosion performance. The content of Mg in HTO pre-fabricated film is remarkedly higher than that in the substrate, which greatly influences the formation of the MAO coating.