Colored anodizing of titanium with pyroligneous solutions of black wattle

Résumé

In many places, charcoal production, using Australian Blackwood, is still a rudimentary process, generating huge environmental impact, due to the release of pyrolysis smoke into the atmosphere. Both the society and governmental agencies is pushing the factories to condense the smoke, generating byproduct known as pyroligneous liquor. Although it's largely used for agricultural purpose, as a fertilizer and phytosanitizer, its chemical composition presents hydrogen and oxygen rich compounds, making it a potential electrolyte in the surface treatment industry, especially for anodization. Organic alternatives are being used to replace these electrolytes to make the anodizing process cleaner. Then, for the first time, Australian Blackwood pyroligneous liquor was used as an anodizing electrolyte for titanium TICP-G2, to obtain oxides for protection and coloring of the metal. For such, suitable parameters to execute the process were determined (dilution, current density, temperature, agitation, pH, conductivity) and an analysis of the transient potential over time was made. The anodized surfaces were characterized using top view Scan Electronic Microscopy (SEM) and Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD).  Based on the results presented, it can be concluded that the best parameters to anodize the titanium were obtained with 50% pyroligneous liquor diluted in water, obtaining colored surfaces and promoting the formation of oxide crystallites clusters mainly in longer  process times (3600s).  Keywords: Pyroligneous liquor, Titanium, Anodizing.