Ag/(SnO2)12 electrical contact material with fibre-like arrangement of reinforcing nanoparticles: Preparation, formation mechanism and properties

According to the principle that the fibre-like arrangement of reinforcing SnO₂ particles paralleling to the direction of current is propitious to the electrical and mechanical performance of the electrical contact materials (ECM), we proposed and reported the novel precursor route used to prepare Ag/(SnO₂)₁₂ ECM with fibre-like arrangement of reinforcing nanoparticles. The as-prepared samples were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical metallurgical (OM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), MHV2000 microhardness test, and double bridge tester. The mechanism for the formation of fibre-like arrangement of reinforcing nanoparticles in Ag/(SnO₂)₁₂ ECM was also discussed. The analysis results show that Ag/(SnO₂)₆₀ sphere with mosaic structure of SnO₂ nanoparticles embedded in Ag matrix is believed to play a pivotal role in formation of fibre-like structure. The fibre-like structured Ag/(SnO₂)₁₂ ECM exhibits a high elongation of 24%, a particularly low electrical resistivity of 2.08 μΩ·cm, low arcing energy and low contact resistivity, and thus has considerable technical, economical and environmental benefits.