Enrichment factors for copper in aluminium alloys following chemical and electrochemical surface treatments

Abstract Surface treatments, including chemical polishing, alkaline etching, acid pickling, and electropolishing, of aluminium and copper-containing aluminium alloys lead to enrichment of solid solution copper in the metal just beneath the residual oxide films of the treatment processes. The paper presents the enrichment factor for copper as a function of the copper content of the bulk matrix material. The factor is defined as the ratio of the copper enrichment, measured in units of 1015 atoms cm−2, to the copper content of the matrix in at.%. Although absolute levels of enrichment increase with increase in copper content of the alloy, the enrichment factor increases in the opposite sense.