Anodization and anodic oxides

Anodizing is a low-temperature, low-cost electrochemical process allowing for the growth, on the surface of valve metals and valve metal alloys, of anodic oxides of tunable composition and properties. This article is an overview on theoretical aspects concerning the general aspects of the kinetics of growth of barrier and porous anodic oxides and some of their present and possibly future technological applications of anodic oxides. The first part of the article is devoted to anodic oxide growth models, from Güntherschulze and Betz work (in 1934) to the more recent results on barrier and porous oxide films. The second part is focused on industrial processes to fabricate anodic oxides and their application in different technological fields, such as coatings for corrosion protection and as dielectrics for electrolytic capacitors or as gate oxides in thin film field effect transistors (MOS-FET).