Investigation of the Ce-Mn conversion coating on 6063 aluminium alloy

In this paper, the sustainable Ce-Mn chemical conversion coating was fabricated on 6063 aluminium alloy by means of Ce(NO₃)₃ and KMnO4 as the inhibitors and NaF as the accelerator. The morphologies, composition and valence state of the coating were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The results indicated that the Ce-Mn conversion coating was formed. The anticorrosion of the coating was evaluated in 3.5 wt.% NaCl aqueous solution at room temperature by using polarization curve and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). It indicated that the treated surface presented better anticorrosion behavior in chloride media than on the original material surface. The corrosion resistance of Ce-Mn conversion coating was about equal to the trivalent chromium conversion coating.