Professor Peter Skeldon

The optimization of materials for performance in a wide range of environments has been the key focus of research activities in industry and academia. Following industrial experience in silicon technology, construction materials for the building sector, and nuclear materials for power plants, subsequent research has embraced high temperature materials, surface engineering, electronic materials and light metal technologies, with interests spanning environmentally-assisted cracking, high temperature oxidation and corrosion, anodizing and anodic processes, coatings for corrosion and wear protection, and functionalized surfaces. Light metals research is a major area, covering aluminium, magnesium and titanium alloys with applications in aerospace, automotive, architectural, biomedical and other fields. Relationships between alloy type, oxide and coating formation and surface performance are of fundamental importance, with investigations supported by a wide variety of analytical tools. Use of ion beams, including RBS, NRA and MEIS have provided key mechanistic insights into corrosion, oxidation and surface treatment processes. Extensive international collaborations exist with Japan, Europe, North and South America institutions, enabling wider aspect of coating properties to be examined, such as photoelectrochemistry and luminescence behaviours.

• Grain Orientation Effects in Anodizing Processes
• Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation of Titanium, Magnesium and Aluminium Alloys
• High Speed Anodizing and Cleaning of Aluminium
• Medium Energy Ion Scattering Investigations of Thin Film and Near-Surface Layers
• Modified Chromate Conversion Coatings for Corrosion Protection
• Transport Processes in Anodic Oxide Films
• Tailoring of Oxidized Titanium for Biocompatibility
• Excimer Laser Surface Alloying of Titanium

• Chromate conversion coatings on aluminium: influences of alloying, Y. Liu, P. Skeldon, G.E. Thompson, H. Habazaki and K. Shimizu, Corrosion Science, 46, 297-312 (2004).
• The chemical environment of copper at the surface of CuA12 model alloy: XPS, MEIS and TEM analyses, Y. Liu, P. Bailey, T.C.Q. Noakes, G.E. Thompson, P. Skeldon and M.R. Alexander, Surface and Interface Analysis, 36, 339-346 (2004).
• Anodic oxidation of Mg-Cu and Mg-Zn alloys and enrichment of alloying elements, M. Abulsain, A. Berkani, F.A. Bonilla, Y. Liu, P. Skeldon, G.E. Thompson, P. Bailey, T.C.Q. Noakes, K. Shimizu and H. Habazaki, Electrochimica Acta, 49, 899-904 (2004).
• Incorporation of transition metal cations and oxygen generation during anodizing of aluminium alloys, H. Habazaki, H. Konno, K. Shimizu, S. Nagata, P. Skeldon and G.E. Thompson, Corrosion Science, 46, 2041-2053 (2004).
• Chromate conversion coatings on aluminium-copper alloys, Y. Liu, P. Skeldon, G.E. Thompson, H. Habazaki, and K. Shimizu, Corrosion Science, 46, 1-14 (2004).
• Transport numbers of metal and oxygen species in anodic tantala, Q. Lu, P. Skeldon, G.E. Thompson, D. Masheder, H. Habazaki and K. Shimizu, Corrosion Science, 46, 2817-2824 (2004).
• Ageing effects in the growth of chromate conversion coatings on aluminium, Y. Liu, A.M. Arenas, S.G. Garcia-Vergara, P. Skeldon, G.E. Thompson, K. Shimizu and H. Habazaki, Corrosion Science, 47, 145-140 (2005).