Controlled interference color of the metal surface by combination of the chemical and electrochemical aluminum surface treatment

The method of the electrochemical and chemical treatment of an aluminum surface to obtain selective coloration of the anodic aluminum oxide films (AAOF) with high index of the reflection and wide range of the color tones was developed. AAOF were formed and both Ag and Au were chemically deposited. The physical and chemical properties of the obtained color AAOF were studied. It was shown that the additional chemical deposition of the noble metal leads to the enhancement of the selective reflection ability and the interference contrast. Silver nanoparticle formation on the surface of the pores after chemical deposition was shown by electron microscopy. The optical reflection spectra at different angles (10$^\circ$ – 85$^\circ$) of metalized AAOF were measured and the effective refractive index (n $\approx$ 1:6) and thickness were calculated. The spectral shift of the reflection peaks of nanoporous metalized AAOF was shown to depend on the nature of the marked solvents.