| Summary: | Ag/Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> has excellent potential to replace Ag/CdO as the environmentally friendly electrical contact material. Using spherical Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> as the starting material, Ag/Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> contacts with a quasi-continuous network structure were successfully fabricated by a low-energy ball milling treatment. The mean size of Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> used ranged from 243 to 980 nm. Due to the differences in the size of Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>, Ag/Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> contacts had different primitive microstructures, thereby exhibiting distinctive anti-arc-erosion capabilities. Ag/Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> contact prepared using 243 nm Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> showed the best anti-arc-erosion capability and the most outstanding electrical performance measures, such as low contact resistance, less mass transfer, and no failure up to 10<sup>5</sup> cycle times. The quasi-continuous network structure formed in the micro-scale was responsible for the excellent electrical performance. The short distance between Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> particles in the network promoted the cathode arc motion, and thus alleviated the localized erosion. The results obtained herein may inspire further attempts to design electrical contacts rationally.
|
|---|