Effect of Ni-coated carbon nanotubes on the corrosion behavior of Sn-Ag-Cu solder

In this study, the effect of Ni-coated carbon nanotubes (Ni-CNTs) on the corrosion resistance of 95.8Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu (SAC) solder at ambient temperature in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution was investigated using the potentiodynamic polarization method. The corrosion products were analyzed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (S4800), energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction. The results showed that addition of Ni-CNTs enhanced the corrosion resistance of the SAC solder and that increasing the content of Ni-CNTs made the effect more evident. The mechanism of the corrosion resistance improvement is the formation of a compact corrosion layer of Ni-CNTs that provides an inert physical barrier to the initiation and development of corrosion. Furthermore, in the corrosion microcell produced by the Ni-CNTs dispersed in the SAC solder, the Ni-CNTs act as a third phase (electrode) which contributes to reducing the galvanic corrosion between Sn anode and Ag₃Sn cathode. Hence, the corrosion resistance of the composite solders was improved.