Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Tin- Bismuth Solder Alloy Reinforced by Antimony Oxide Nanoparticles

The influence of 1wt% Sb2O3 nanoparticles addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Sn-3wt% Bi solder alloy has been investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were utilized to observe the microstructure of Sn-Bi solder (alloy A) and Sn-Bi-Sb2O3 composite solder (alloy B). The mechanical properties of both alloys were characterized by using Vickers microhardness tests over the range of aging temperature 300-363 K. Experimental results indicated the hardness values of alloy B are higher than in alloy A. Furthermore, the hardness of both alloys decreased as the aging temperature increased exhibiting maxima at 333K. Values of stress exponent were found to be in the range of 7 to 18 for both alloys. The average values of the activation energy of both alloys A and B was found to be 68 and 74 kJ/mol respectively.