Electrodeposition of Vanadium Oxide/Manganese Oxide Hybrid Thin Films on Nanostructured Aluminum Substrates

Electrodeposition of functional coatings on aluminum electrodes in aqueous solutions often is impeded by the corrosion of aluminum. In the present work it is demonstrated that electrodeposition of vanadium, oxide films on nanostructured aluminum substrates can be achieved in acidic electrolytes employing a novel strategy in which a thin interspacing layer of manganese oxide is first electrodeposited on aluminum microrod substrates. Such deposited films, which were studied using SEM, XPS, XRD, and surface enhances Raman scattering as well as chronopotentiometry, are shown to comprise a mixture of vanadium oxidation states (i.e. IV and V). As this all-electrochemical approach circumvents the problems associated with aluminum corrosion, the approach provides new possibilities for the electrochemical coating of nanostructured Al substrates with functional layers of metal oxides. The latter significantly facilitates the development of new procedures for the manufacturing of three-dimensional aluminum based electrodes for lithium ion microbatteries. (C) The Author(s) 2014. Published by ECS. All rights reserved