Research Progress in Silver Zinc Oxide Electrical Contact Material

Since the performance of silver metal oxide (Ag/MeO) electrical contact materials directly affects the reliability and service life of switching apparatus, the related research on high-performance Ag/MeO electrical contact materials has not stopped. And with the rapid development of switching apparatus, higher and higher requirements are put forward for the performance of Ag/MeO electrical contact materials. Thanks to low and stable contact resistance, short arc burning time, good resistance to high current impulse (3000-5000 A) and good anti-arc erosion, silver zinc oxide (Ag/ZnO) more than just serves as an indispensable environmentally friendly alternative to silver cadmium oxide (Ag/CdO) electrical contact material, and has become one of the important research hotspots of Ag/MeO in recent years. Nevertheless, Ag/ZnO is suffering the increasingly serious challenges, especially the poor processability and electrical properties due to the easy segregation of zinc oxide (ZnO) during the process of preparation, which urge scholars at home and abroad to seek favorable methods to optimize the Ag/ZnO. As yet, impressive strides have been made in optimization the preparation process, nano-technology and additive modification of materials, and research on the failure mechanism of materials. Aiming to provide reference for optimizing Ag/ZnO electrical contact material, this review retrospects the research progress in Ag/ZnO electrical contact materials in recent years, and expounds the preparation methods, processing technology, modification research and failure mechanism of Ag/ZnO, and points out the future development directions of Ag/ZnO.