RE: [AV Media Matters] news story about CD & fungus

[Tommy Sjoberg <tommy.sjoberg@dcm.se>]

Hi all,
aluminum corrodes pretty easily. If a fresh aluminum surface comes into
contact with oxygen, ie air, it immediately starts to corrode. The oxide
sticks pretty well to the pure metal, thereby forming a protective surface.
If the oxide surface is punctured, it is kind of "self healing", but
aluminum in airplanes are coated with a more resistant surface than just
oxide.
In CD's, the aluminum is sputtered onto the polycarbonate surface, and then
covered with laquer, etc. This aluminum disk is very thin, and if I may
venture a guess here, if it comes into contact with air, the disk will
corrode through, leaving no metal to stick to. The oxide by itself is just a
powder, and may easily be dispersed through the air hole.
Anyone out tehre who can shed more light on aluminum's corroding process?

Tommy Sjöberg
DCM Sweden