With the development of the power industry, research on contact resistance materials has also received increasing attention. AgZnO electrical contacts are a new contact material with excellent performance that have been researched and developed in the past two decades. Since ZnO is an oxidizing material with high thermal stability, It is a substance with a melting point of 1975°C. Through certain process technology, ZnO is evenly distributed in the Ag matrix to form a dispersion-strengthened pseudo-alloy. AgZnO electrical contact material is the preferred material for low-voltage electrical appliances with a breaking current of 3000~5000A. It is gradually promoted for its series of advantages such as resistance to large current impact, good breaking performance, short arcing time, resistance to electrical corrosion, and non-toxicity. Used in power equipment such as high-voltage switchgear, lightning arresters, transformers and circuit breakers.

    Advantages of AgZnO electrical contact materials:

    ① High mechanical strength: AgZnO material has high mechanical strength and hardness, which can ensure long-term stable operation of electrical contacts.

    ② Good electrical properties: AgZnO material can still maintain good electrical properties and high conductivity under high current density.

    ③ High temperature stability: AgZnO material can operate in high temperature environments and is not easily affected by oxidation and hardening.

    ④ Low contact resistance: Because the surface of AgZnO material is smooth and flat, it can form a good contact area, thereby achieving lower contact resistance and improving gear reliability.

    In the early 1980s, my country introduced the manufacturing technology of the ME-1600 frame-type automatic air switch from the German AEG company. The introduced switch used AgZnO electrical contact material. Subsequently, domestic DZ15 series plastic case circuit breakers and DZ15L series earth leakage circuit breakers also used AgZnO electrical contact materials. The biggest advantages of AgZnO electrical contact material are good burning resistance and low contact resistance. Therefore, it has also been used in cut-off switches, transfer switches, small circuit breakers, contactors, protective switches, etc. AgZnO electrical contact material is not as widely used as AgCdO and AgSnO2, but it serves as a supplement to AgSnO2 in some fields and is an indispensable environmentally friendly contact material that replaces AgCdO. The manufacturing process of AgZnO electrical contact materials has developed from the earliest co-deposition powder metallurgy method and alloy internal oxidation method to the current advanced pre-oxidation method (atomization process).

    AgZnO electrical contact materials are currently widely used in the power industry. AgZnO coatings are used in switchgear to reduce the current density of the arc in the arc extinguishing chamber. In addition, AgZnO electrical contacts are more suitable for low load environments because the electrical properties of Ag become unstable with increased corrosion and wear, while AgZnO has better durability.

    The development of AgZnO electrical contact materials has become one of the development trends in the power industry. In future applications, we can explore some directions for the preparation and application of AgZnO materials from the following aspects:

    ① More attention should be paid to research on AgZnO materials, and the understanding of the material properties should be further deepened.

    ② How to adjust the content ratio of Ag and ZnO in AgZnO materials and select the best preparation process to optimize its preparation process.

    ③ When preparing AgZnO materials, attention should be paid to the stability and application life of the material, especially in high-pressure and high-strength application environments.

    ④ It is necessary to optimize and improve the preparation cost of AgZnO materials and reduce its cost in large-scale preparation.

    In summary, AgZnO electrical contact material has excellent performance and wide application prospects. In future research, we can explore more efficient preparation processes to better meet the needs of the power industry. Provide more reliable guarantee for the efficient operation of power equipment.

——The content of the article comes from the Internet