Plasma electrolytic oxidation of tantalum

This paper is a review of our research on the plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) process of tantalum in 12-tungstosilicic acid. For the characterization of microdischarges during PEO, real-time imaging and optical emission spectroscopy (OES) were used. The surface morphology, chemical and phase composition of oxide coatings were investigated by AFM, SEM-EDS and XRD. Oxide coating morphology is strongly dependent on PEO time. The elemental components of PEO coatings are Ta, O, Si and W. The oxide coatings are partly crystallized and mainly composed of WO3, Ta2O5 and SiO2.