Primary Study on the Effect of the 1% and 2% TiO2 Nanoparticles to the Microhardness, Microstructure and Contact Angle of the SnBi/Cu Solder Alloy

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of the 1 % and 2 % titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles to the microhardness, microstructure, and contact angle of the Sn58Bi (SB) solder. Results showed increase (2 % increment) on the microhardness for the nanoparticles reinforced solder with the recorded microhardness value of 22 Hv and 23.6 Hv for 1 % and 2 % additions respectively. The TiO2 presented at the solder side with more Bi island observed in the TiO2 reinforced solders. Contact angle increased minorly (≈5 °) as the weight percentages of additions increases because of the presence of nanoparticles that will increase the viscosity of the molten solder.  The introduction of TiO2 into the SB solder resulted in satisfactory effect without interrupting the low melting aspect of the solder alloy. Enhancement on the hardness properties via better microstructure affect and presence of TiO2 as additional strengthening mechanism provides an initial suggestion on the usage of this combination of nanoparticles in to the SnBi solder alloy as the remedy to replace the lead solder in the electronic industry.