Zaki Sana, Zhang Nan, Gilchrist Michael D
Center of Micro/Nano Manufacturing Technology (MNMT-Dublin), School of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland.
Micromachines (Basel). 2022 Mar 18;13(3):468. doi: 10.3390/mi13030468.
Electropolishing (EP) is most widely used as a metal finishing process. It is a non-contact electrochemical process that can clean, passivate, deburr, brighten, and improve the biocompatibility of surfaces. However, there is clear potential for it to be used to shape and form the topology of micro-scale surface features, such as those found on the micro-applications of additively manufactured (AM) parts, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) samples, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMs), biomedical stents, and artificial implants. This review focuses on the fundamental principles of electrochemical polishing, the associated process parameters (voltage, current density, electrolytes, electrode gap, and time), and the increasing demand for using environmentally sustainable electrolytes and micro-scale applications. A summary of other micro-fabrication processes, including micro-milling, micro-electric discharge machining (EDM), laser polishing/ablation, lithography (LIGA), electrochemical etching (MacEtch), and reactive ion etching (RIE), are discussed and compared with EP. However, those processes have tool size, stress, wear, and structural integrity limitations for micro-structures. Hence, electropolishing offers two-fold benefits of material removal from the metal, resulting in a smooth and bright surface, along with the ability to shape/form micro-scale features, which makes the process particularly attractive for precision engineering applications.zx3.
电解抛光(EP)作为一种金属表面处理工艺应用最为广泛。它是一种非接触式电化学工艺,可清洁、钝化、去毛刺、提亮并改善表面的生物相容性。然而,它显然有潜力用于塑造和形成微观尺度表面特征的拓扑结构,比如在增材制造(AM)零件的微应用、透射电子显微镜(TEM)样品、微机电系统(MEMS)、生物医学支架和人工植入物上发现的那些特征。本综述聚焦于电化学抛光的基本原理、相关工艺参数(电压、电流密度、电解质、电极间隙和时间),以及对使用环境可持续电解质和微观尺度应用的需求不断增加的情况。还讨论了其他微加工工艺的概述,包括微铣削、微电火花加工(EDM)、激光抛光/烧蚀、光刻(LIGA)、电化学蚀刻(MacEtch)和反应离子蚀刻(RIE),并将它们与电解抛光进行了比较。然而,那些工艺对于微结构存在刀具尺寸、应力、磨损和结构完整性方面的限制。因此,电解抛光具有双重益处,既能从金属上去除材料,得到光滑明亮的表面,又具备塑造/形成微观尺度特征的能力,这使得该工艺对精密工程应用特别有吸引力。