Conductive nanocomposite ceramics as tribological and electrical contact materials

Öberg, Åke; Kassman, Åsa; André, Benny; Wiklund, Urban; Lindquist, Mattias; Lewin, Erik; Jansson, Ulf; Högberg, Hans; Joelsson, Torbjörn; Ljungcrantz, H.

doi:10.1051/epjap/2009122

Cited by 21 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…An alternative type of contact material is ceramic binary and ternary nanocomposites such as Ti-C and Ti-Si-C [1][2][3]. Typically, these nanocomposites consist of nanocrystalline metal carbide (nc-MeC) in an amorphous matrix of, e.g., carbon (a-C) or SiC (a-SiC).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Typically, these nanocomposites consist of nanocrystalline metal carbide (nc-MeC) in an amorphous matrix of, e.g., carbon (a-C) or SiC (a-SiC). The great potential of this type of coatings is their design possibilities; the material properties of the coatings can be controlled by the microstructure (grain size and matrix thickness) and also by the choice of transition metal (Me) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. The simplicity of binary nanocomposite coatings makes them an interesting alternative to ternary nanocomposites, especially when studying the microstructure and its connection to the properties of the coating for different transition metals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structural, mechanical and electrical-contact properties of nanocrystalline-NbC/amorphous-C coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering

Nedfors

Tengstrand

Lewin

et al. 2011

Surface and Coatings Technology

118

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Niobium-carbide nanocomposite coatings with a carbon content varying from 43 -64 at.% were deposited by dual DC magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron microscopy showed that all coatings consisted of nanometer sized NbC grains embedded in a matrix of amorphous carbon. Mechanical properties and electrical resistivity showed a strong dependency on the amount of amorphous carbon (a-C) and NbC grain size in the coating. The highest hardness (23 GPa), elastic modulus (295 GPa) and the lowest resistivity (260 µΩcm) were measured for the coating with about 15 % of a-C phase.Contact resistance measurements using a crossed cylinder set-up showed lowest contact resistance for the coating containing 33 % a-C (140 µΩ at a contact force of 100 N), which is comparable to a Ag reference (45 µΩ at a contact force of 100 N). Comparison with TiCbased nanocomposites studied under similar conditions showed that the Nb-C system has less tendency to form a-C and that lowest contact resistance is obtained at comparable amounts of a-C phase in both material systems (33 % for Nb-C compared to 35 % for Ti-C). With these good electrical contact properties, the Nb-C nanocomposites can be considered as a potential material for electrical contact applications.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural, mechanical and electrical-contact properties of nanocrystalline-NbC/amorphous-C coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering

Nedfors

Tengstrand

Lewin

et al. 2011

Surface and Coatings Technology

118

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“…Ti-C based nanocomposites show promise to replace Au [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] in electrical contact applications, as a material with complementary tribological qualities [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Ti-Si-C [4,7] and Ti-Si-C-Ag [5,6] nanocomposite coatings thus exhibit low contact resistance and resistivity values.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contact Resistance of Ti-Si-C-Ag and Ti-Si-C-Ag-Pd Nanocomposite Coatings

Sarius

Lauridsen

Lewin

et al. 2011

Journal of Elec Materi

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Ti-Si-C-Ag-Pd and Ti-Si-C-Ag nanocomposite coatings were deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering on Cu substrates with an electroplated Ni layer. Analytical electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy show that the nanocomposites consist of TiC, Ag:Pd, and amorphous SiC. The contact resistance of these coatings against a spherical Au-Co surface was measured for an applied contact force up to 5 N. Ti-Si-C-Ag-Pd coatings with an Ag:Pd top coating has ~10 times lower contact resistance at contact forces below 1 N (~10 mΩ at ~0.1 N), and 2-3 times lower for contact forces around 5 N (<1 mΩ at 5 N), compared to the Ti-Si-C-Ag coating.

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“…These nanocomposites contain nanocrystalline carbide grains embedded in an amorphous carbon matrix and can readily be deposited by magnetron sputtering on a wide range of substrates at fairly low temperatures (\200°C). Some reported examples are binary systems such as Ti-C [1,2], Cr-C [3], Nb-C [4,5], V-C [6], and Zr-C [6] as well as ternary Ti-Si-C [7,8].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Passive films on nanocomposite carbide coatings for electrical contact applications

et al. 2017

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Nanocomposite transition metal carbide/amorphous carbon coatings (Me-C/a-C) deposited by magnetron sputtering have excellent electrical contact properties. The contact resistance can be as low as that of noble metal coatings, although it is known to vary by several orders of magnitude depending on the deposition conditions. We have investigated a nanocrystalline niobium carbide/ amorphous carbon (NbC x /a-C:H) model system aiming to clarify factors affecting the contact resistance for this group of contact materials. For the first time, the surface chemistry is systematically studied, by angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and in extension how it can explain the contact resistance. The coatings presented a mean oxide thickness of about 1 nm, which could be grown to 8 nm by annealing. Remarkably, the contact resistances covered four orders of magnitude and were found to be exponentially dependent on the mean oxide thickness. Moreover, there is an optimum in the amount of a-C:H phase where the contact resistance drops very significantly and it is thus important to not only consider the mean oxide thickness. To explain the results, a model relying on surface chemistry and contact mechanics is presented. The lowest contact resistance of a nanocomposite matched that of a gold coating at 1 N load (vs. gold), and such performance has previously not been demonstrated for similar nanocomposite materials, highlighting their useful properties for electrical contact applications.

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Conductive nanocomposite ceramics as tribological and electrical contact materials

Cited by 21 publications

References 15 publications

Structural, mechanical and electrical-contact properties of nanocrystalline-NbC/amorphous-C coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering

Structural, mechanical and electrical-contact properties of nanocrystalline-NbC/amorphous-C coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering

Contact Resistance of Ti-Si-C-Ag and Ti-Si-C-Ag-Pd Nanocomposite Coatings

Passive films on nanocomposite carbide coatings for electrical contact applications

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