Rare earth alloying in Cu enhances the C/Cu interfacial wettability for long-lasting copper-based electrical contacts
C/Cu composites have been widely used in the field of electrical contacts due to their excellent conductivity and anti-ablation properties. However, the poor wettability between C and Cu matrix severely significantly shortens the service life of C/Cu electrical contacts. In this work, we theoretical...
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Materials Research and Technology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S223878542500050X |
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| author | Bingtian Li Zhenjie Guan Yang Li Ziyao Chen Weijian Li Liang Zhen Wenzhu Shao |
| author_facet | Bingtian Li Zhenjie Guan Yang Li Ziyao Chen Weijian Li Liang Zhen Wenzhu Shao |
| author_sort | Bingtian Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | C/Cu composites have been widely used in the field of electrical contacts due to their excellent conductivity and anti-ablation properties. However, the poor wettability between C and Cu matrix severely significantly shortens the service life of C/Cu electrical contacts. In this work, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that rare earth alloying in Cu matrix enhances the interfacial wettability between C and Cu, leading to the improved electrical contact performance. The wetting angle is reduced from 132° to 46° by the incorporation of La (0.56 wt%) into the Cu matrix, which is attributed to the formation of interfacial LaC2, where the Griffith's separation energy of LaC2/Cu was calculated to be −4.6 J/m2 much lower than those of C/Cu (0.13 J/m2) and C/CuLa (0.06 J/m2). The ablation surface of the electric contact demonstrates that improved wettability can diminish carbon accumulation, thereby reducing the contact resistance from 50 mΩ to 2.2 mΩ after 1000 cycles at 380 V and 60 A, with a reduction of mass loss by 50%.This work reveals the bonding mechanism of C/Cu interface, which paves a way for rational design of C/Cu-based electrical contact materials. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2f7e4b0bc15d4d9f86fb09c2b70766b0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2238-7854 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Materials Research and Technology |
| spelling | doaj-art-2f7e4b0bc15d4d9f86fb09c2b70766b02025-01-17T04:49:33ZengElsevierJournal of Materials Research and Technology2238-78542025-03-0135911920Rare earth alloying in Cu enhances the C/Cu interfacial wettability for long-lasting copper-based electrical contactsBingtian Li0Zhenjie Guan1Yang Li2Ziyao Chen3Weijian Li4Liang Zhen5Wenzhu Shao6School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China; National Key Laboratory of Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, ChinaSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China; National Key Laboratory of Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, ChinaSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, ChinaSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China; National Key Laboratory of Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, ChinaCollege of Nuclear Equipment and Nuclear Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai, 264005, China; Corresponding author.School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, ChinaSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China; National Key Laboratory of Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China; Corresponding author. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China.C/Cu composites have been widely used in the field of electrical contacts due to their excellent conductivity and anti-ablation properties. However, the poor wettability between C and Cu matrix severely significantly shortens the service life of C/Cu electrical contacts. In this work, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that rare earth alloying in Cu matrix enhances the interfacial wettability between C and Cu, leading to the improved electrical contact performance. The wetting angle is reduced from 132° to 46° by the incorporation of La (0.56 wt%) into the Cu matrix, which is attributed to the formation of interfacial LaC2, where the Griffith's separation energy of LaC2/Cu was calculated to be −4.6 J/m2 much lower than those of C/Cu (0.13 J/m2) and C/CuLa (0.06 J/m2). The ablation surface of the electric contact demonstrates that improved wettability can diminish carbon accumulation, thereby reducing the contact resistance from 50 mΩ to 2.2 mΩ after 1000 cycles at 380 V and 60 A, with a reduction of mass loss by 50%.This work reveals the bonding mechanism of C/Cu interface, which paves a way for rational design of C/Cu-based electrical contact materials.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S223878542500050XC/Cu electrical contactsWettabilityArc erosion behaviorFirst-principles calculationElectronic structure |
| spellingShingle | Bingtian Li Zhenjie Guan Yang Li Ziyao Chen Weijian Li Liang Zhen Wenzhu Shao Rare earth alloying in Cu enhances the C/Cu interfacial wettability for long-lasting copper-based electrical contacts Journal of Materials Research and Technology C/Cu electrical contacts Wettability Arc erosion behavior First-principles calculation Electronic structure |
| title | Rare earth alloying in Cu enhances the C/Cu interfacial wettability for long-lasting copper-based electrical contacts |
| title_full | Rare earth alloying in Cu enhances the C/Cu interfacial wettability for long-lasting copper-based electrical contacts |
| title_fullStr | Rare earth alloying in Cu enhances the C/Cu interfacial wettability for long-lasting copper-based electrical contacts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rare earth alloying in Cu enhances the C/Cu interfacial wettability for long-lasting copper-based electrical contacts |
| title_short | Rare earth alloying in Cu enhances the C/Cu interfacial wettability for long-lasting copper-based electrical contacts |
| title_sort | rare earth alloying in cu enhances the c cu interfacial wettability for long lasting copper based electrical contacts |
| topic | C/Cu electrical contacts Wettability Arc erosion behavior First-principles calculation Electronic structure |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S223878542500050X |
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