Microstructural and segregation effects affecting the corrosion behavior of a high‐temperature Bi‐Ag solder alloy in dilute chloride solution

Journal of Applied Electrochemistry (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

In electronic devices the solder joint is exposed not only to the air but also to moistures and other corrosive media such as chlorine and sulfur compounds. Bi–Ag alloys meet the melting temperature requirement to be classified as high-temperature solders, therefore, knowledge of corrosion behavior is important for a long-term reliability of Bi–Ag solder connections. However, corrosion studies of Bi–Ag alloys are quite restricted in the literature. In this study, the role of the representative length scale of the microstructure as well as of the effects of Ag segregation on the resulting corrosion behavior of Bi–4 wt% Ag alloy samples are investigated. Cyclic potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements were performed, and an equivalent circuit was also proposed to simulate the electrochemical corrosion behavior. All the used techniques indicated a tendency of better corrosion resistance associated with the sample having coarser microstructure and less Ag content.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to CNPq—National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Brazil (Grants: 301600/2015-5 and 408576/2016-2) and FAPESP—São Paulo Research Foundation (Grants: 2017/15158-0, 2017/12741-6 and 2019/23673-7) for their financial support.

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Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geosciences and Engineering, Federal University of the South and Southeast of Pará (Unifesspa), Marabá, PA, 68500-080, Brazil

    Rudimylla Septimio

  2. Department of Production Engineering, Institute of Exact and Applied Sciences, Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), João Monlevade, MG, 35931-008, Brazil

    Clarissa Cruz

  3. Department of Materials Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN, 59078-970, Brazil

    Bismarck Silva

  4. Department of Manufacturing and Materials Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, 13083-860, Brazil

    Amauri Garcia & Noé Cheung

  5. Department of Materials Engineering, Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, SP, 13565-905, Brazil

    José Eduardo Spinelli

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  1. Rudimylla Septimio
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  2. Clarissa Cruz
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  3. Bismarck Silva
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  4. Amauri Garcia
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  5. José Eduardo Spinelli
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Correspondence to Rudimylla Septimio.

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Septimio, R., Cruz, C., Silva, B. et al. Microstructural and segregation effects affecting the corrosion behavior of a high‐temperature Bi‐Ag solder alloy in dilute chloride solution. J Appl Electrochem (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-021-01533-5

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Keywords

  • Solders
  • Bi–Ag alloy
  • Microstructure
  • Corrosion resistance