The corrosion-protective influence of eco-friendly ceria conversion coatings deposited on Al-1050 alloy, additionally treated in mixed NaH₂PO₄ and Ca(NO₃)₂ solution, was studied. The main aim of this work was to investigate how the obtained mixed systems of coatings eliminates the negative role of cracks and pores on the surface formed after deposition only of ceria coating. For this purpose, the growth structure, main components and corrosion resistance of the so formed protective systems were investigated by SEM, EDS, XRD, XPS and electrochemical (PDP, Rp, etc.) methods. The results obtained show that the basic components of the conversion layers (before and after exposure in model corrosion media) are characterized by Al₂O₃, Al(OH)₃, CePO₄ and Ca₅(PO₄)₃(OH). Based on these results, the optimal conditions of immersion treatment(s) of Al substrate are established. At these regimes, the relationship of co-deposited Ce³⁺, PO₄³⁺ and Ca²⁺-containing components of the conversion layers determine the maximum values of their polarization resistance—a basic criterion for corrosion protection of Al. This effect is related to the formation of fill out of the defects of the conversion coatings and additional Ca₅(PO₄)₃(OH), CePO₄ AlPO₄ and Al(OH)₃ deposits, leading to the decrease of the corrosion rate.

This investigation presents results on the improvement of the corrosion-protective effect of consecutive sealing treatments of anodized Al 1050 (Al_Anod). The treatments were performed in cerium-containing and mixed NaH₂PO₄ + Ca(NO₃)₂ solutions. The changes of the surface morphology, structure and chemical composition, chemical state of the elements, and basic corrosion parameters of the studied systems were investigated by SEM, EDXS, XRD, XPS, and a complex of electrochemical techniques (PDP, E_OCP vs. timeplot, chronoamperometric transients, Rp and CR at E_OCP, etc.). The results obtained show that the basic components of the obtained sealing conversion layers (before and after exposure to model Cl⁻-containing corrosion media) are characterized by Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂, AlO(OH), CePO₄, and CeAlO₃ (after the corrosion tests, they are converted to insoluble Me-PO₃ and Me-P₄O₁₀). We conclude that the observed decrease in the corrosion rate of Al and the corresponding increase in the polarization resistance are accomplished by the two-step sealing treatment, which fills up the Al_Anod pores with insoluble deposits.

The corrosion-protective ability was investigated of electroless deposited ceria conversion coatings on substrate(s) of technically pure aluminium. By applying different electrochemical methods, a comparative study of the investigated samples was conducted regarding the effect of pre-treatment of the Al substrate and the type of phosphate post-treatment on the change of: E _OCP values, monitored E_OCP vs. time plot; course of i _a transients at the E_pit of Al, i.e., i_a vs. time plot; Rp vs. time of exposure of the samples in a corrosion medium and connected with this change in the CR of the systems studied. The juxtaposition of the obtained results showed the order of stabilities of the investigated systems towards the appearance and development of pitting corrosion. The presented results can be connected with and explain the data obtained earlier about the calculated stoichiometry of the elements in the so-formed compounds in the surface layers ascertaining that they are built of phosphate and oxide compounds of Ce³⁺, Ce⁴⁺ and Al³⁺, as well as with the influence of the concentrations of Cu and Fe around them.

This work presents results on laser-induced fabrication of metal and oxide structures on glass substrates. The Laser-Induced Reverse Transfer (LIRT) technique is applied using Zn and Sn, sintered ZnO and SnO₂, and oxide composite targets. The processing is performed by nanosecond pulses of a Nd:YAG laser system operated at wavelength of 1064 nm. Detailed analyses of the deposited material morphology, composition and structure are presented, as the role of the processing conditions is revealed. It is found that at the applied conditions of using up to five laser pulses, the deposited material is composed of a nanostructured film covered in microsized nanoparticle clusters or droplets. The use of metal targets leads to formation of structures composed of metal and oxide phases. The adhesion test shows that part of the deposited material is stably adhered to the substrate surface. It is demonstrated that the deposited materials can be used as resistive gas sensors with sensitivity to NH₃, CO, ethanol, acetone and N₂O, at concentrations of 30 ppm. The ability of the method to deposit composite structures that consist of a mixture of both investigated oxides is also demonstrated.

Effect of electroless deposited on (non-anodized and anodized) Al 1050 of: monolayer Ce2O3+Ce2O4; consecutive deposited be-layer Ce2O3+Ce2O4/Ca5(PO4)3OH or consecutive deposited be-layer Ce2O3+CeO2/(AlPO4+AlOOH+CePO4) systems on the indentation modulus (ЕIT) and hardness (HIT), as well as their corrosion-protective ability were investigated. For structural, chemical, electrochemical and mechanical characterization of the investigated systems following methods were used: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-rays analysis (EDXS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), polarization resistance (Rp), corrosion rate (CR) analysis, and Nanoindentation. It was found that the HIT and ЕIT of the coatings deposited on an anodized aluminum substrate were much higher than those deposited on a non-anodized alumi-num substrate. It is established a specific influence of the morphology and chemical composition of formed conversion layers on HIT and EIT as well as as on the improvement of corrosion-protective effect of these layers. The obtained results are valuable, since there are no data on the mechanical properties of such coatings in the literature up to this point.

Electrochemical formation of ceria (mixed Ce₂O₃ and CeO₂) coatings on different types of screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) (based on graphite (C110), carbon nanotubes (CNT), single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), carbon nanofibers (CNF), and mesoporous carbon (MC)) were studied. Their potential applications as catalysts for various redox reactions and electrochemical sensors were investigated. The ceria oxide layers were electrodeposited on SPCEs at various current densities and deposition time. The morphology, structure, and chemical composition in the bulk of the ceria layers were studied by SEM and EDS methods. XRD was used to identify the formed phases. The concentration, chemical composition and chemical state of the elements on the surface of studied samples were characterized by XPS. It was established that the increase of the concentration of CeCl₃ in the solution and the cathode current density strongly affected the surface structure and concentration (relation between Ce³⁺ and Ce⁴⁺, respectively) in the formed ceria layers. At low concentration of CeCl₃ (0.1M) and low values of cathode current density (0.5 mA·cm⁻²), porous samples were obtained, while with their increase, the ceria coatings grew denser.