Three related conversion coating methods are described be on film formation which occurs when aluminum alloys are exposed to alkaline Li salt solutions. Representative examples of the processing methods, resulting coating structure, composition and morphology are presented. The corrosion resistance of these coatings to aerated 0.5 M NaCl solution has been evaluated as a function of total processing time using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). This evaluation shows that excellent corrosion resistance canbe uniformly achieved using no more than 20 minutes of process time for 6061-T6.Using current methods a minimum of 80 minutes of process time required to get marginally acceptable corrosion resistance for2024-T3. Longer processing times are required to achieve uniformly good corrosion resistance.
Keywords: hydrotalcite, conversion coating, corrosion resistance, aluminum alloys, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.