Development and characterisation of a Hybrid Soldering Alloy with AL2O3 Nanopracticles

In the field of soldering alloys lead free solder development and investigations have fellfield a great deal of advancement in the technical aspects, yet nanoparticle reinforcement of lead-free solder remains an open-ended field. This study has focused on developing a lead-free solder alloy enforced with nanoparticles and then proceeded to establish a thorough investigation of the solder’s basic and vital parameters from initial investigation of the solder’s thermal properties, mechanical strength properties, wetting abilities, and microstructural behavior analysis. On previously done studies from literature these tow base solder which the study focused on (Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu and Sn-9Zn ) were lacking in several aspects such as the mechanical strength and the density as well as few other. Yet due to the regular limitation in the research there remained the opportunity to reinforce these tow solders with various percentages of Al2O3 nanoparticles and record the behaviour and conduct the analysis needed on each composite. The percentages were 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 % as well as the base solder containing 0.0% of nanoparticles addition. The parameters of each test conducted were listed with identical fabricating conditions and test rules so as to give a direct chance o compare between the behaviour of the tow solders. The Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu, for that the Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu-0.5Al2O3 recorded a melting temperature of 222.22°C, the same pattern of decrease in the melting temperature with the addition of the nanoparticle reinforcement was observed for the Sn-9Zn. The XRD as well as SEM analysis results showcased the existence of important IMC such as Cu6Sn5 indicating the reaction of the wetted solder. The microstructure and the IMC recorded a decrease as well in size and in clarity as well as magnitude of appearance. The maximum shear strength supported that both of the solders with the added 0.3% of Al2O3 reflected the highest shear strength and an encouraging result in regard to failure pattern. The lowest contact angle figure recorded was 37.82° and 41.39° for the Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu-0.3Al2O3 as well as for the Sn-9Zn-0.5Al2O3. All of these results have given a clear idea of the abilities of the reinforced soldering alloys and thus weather or not they are to be considered as a potential replacement for the currently excessively relied on lead free soldering alloys