Performance of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu Composite Solder with Kaolin Geopolymer Ceramic Reinforcement on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties under Isothermal Ageing

Nur Syahirah Mohamad Zaimi; Mohd Arif Anuar Mohd Salleh; Andrei Victor Sandu; Mohd Mustafa Al Bakri Abdullah; Norainiza Saud; Shayfull Zamree Abd Rahim; Petrica Vizureanu; Rita Mohd Said; Mohd Izrul Izwan Ramli

doi:10.3390/ma14040776

Performance of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu Composite Solder with Kaolin Geopolymer Ceramic Reinforcement on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties under Isothermal Ageing

Materials (Basel). 2021 Feb 7;14(4):776. doi: 10.3390/ma14040776.

Authors

Nur Syahirah Mohamad Zaimi^{1

2}, Mohd Arif Anuar Mohd Salleh^{1

2}, Andrei Victor Sandu^{1

3

4}, Mohd Mustafa Al Bakri Abdullah^{1

2}, Norainiza Saud^{1

2}, Shayfull Zamree Abd Rahim^{1

5}, Petrica Vizureanu^{1

3}, Rita Mohd Said^{1

2}, Mohd Izrul Izwan Ramli^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Center of Excellence Geopolymer & Green Technology (CeGeoGTech), University Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Taman Muhibbah, Perlis 02600, Malaysia.
² Faculty of Chemical Engineering Technology, University Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Taman Muhibbah, Perlis 02600, Malaysia.
³ Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi, 71 D. Mangeron Blv., 700050 Iasi, Romania.
⁴ Romanian Inventors Forum, Str. Sf. P. Movila 3, 700089 Iasi, Romania.
⁵ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Technology, Pauh Putra Campus, University Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Perlis 02600, Malaysia.

Abstract

This paper elucidates the effect of isothermal ageing at temperature of 85 °C, 125 °C and 150 °C for 100, 500 and 1000 h on Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) lead-free solder with the addition of 1 wt% kaolin geopolymer ceramic (KGC) reinforcement particles. SAC305-KGC composite solders were fabricated through powder metallurgy using a hybrid microwave sintering method and reflowed on copper substrate printed circuit board with an organic solderability preservative surface finish. The results revealed that, the addition of KGC was beneficial in improving the total thickness of interfacial intermetallic compound (IMC) layer. At higher isothermal ageing of 150 °C and 1000 h, the IMC layer in SAC305-KGC composite solder was towards a planar-type morphology. Moreover, the growth of total interfacial IMC layer and Cu₃Sn layer during isothermal ageing was found to be controlled by bulk diffusion and grain-boundary process, respectively. The activation energy possessed by SAC305-KGC composite solder for total interfacial IMC layer and Cu₃Sn IMC was 74 kJ/mol and 104 kJ/mol, respectively. Based on a lap shear test, the shear strength of SAC305-KGC composite solder exhibited higher shear strength than non-reinforced SAC305 solder. Meanwhile, the solder joints failure mode after shear testing was a combination of brittle and ductile modes at higher ageing temperature and time for SAC305-KGC composite solder.

Keywords: activation energy; ageing; composite solder; geopolymer ceramic; intermetallics; lead-free solder geopolymer; microstructure.

Grants and funding

JPT.S (BPKI)2000/016/018/019(29)/Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia