| abstract |
A process is described for forming protective metal oxide films on the surface of metals or alloys, surfaces which are liable to become fouled by carbon deposition, to be corroded or to exert a catalytic activity. This process consists first of all in preoxidising the surface of the substrate and then depositing on this preoxidised surface an oxide of one of the following metals: Ca, Mg, Al, Ga, Ti, Zr, Hf, Ta, Nb or Cr by means of the vapour-phase decomposition of a volatile compound of the metal in question, this compound containing at least one oxygen-metal bond. Nitrogen, helium, argon, carbon dioxide, air or steam can be employed as carrier gas for the metal compound. |