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Development of a method to measure contact angles of sessile droplets to analyze and enhance the surface wettability of nichrome

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dc.contributor.author Kumarasiri, AAAP
dc.contributor.author Amarasinghe, DAS
dc.contributor.author Attygalle, D
dc.contributor.editor Abeygunawardane, AAGA
dc.date.accessioned 2022-03-14T04:05:42Z
dc.date.available 2022-03-14T04:05:42Z
dc.date.issued 2020-02
dc.identifier.citation Kumarasiri, A.A.A.P., Amarasinghe, D.A.S., & Attygalle, D. (2020). Development of a method to measure contact angles of sessile droplets to analyze and enhance the surface wettability of nichrome [Abstract]. In A.A.G.A. Abeygunawardane (Ed.), Towards smart society through innovative materials (p. 20). Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Moratuwa. en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/17320
dc.description.abstract Nichrome (Ni/Cr) alloys are used in many industrial applications due to their better electrical properties and commercial availability. It is a known fact that these alloys are having a surface passivation layer of chromium oxide (Cr2O3). This oxide passivation layer changes the surface tension of the metal surface, therefore, decreases the surface wettability during soldering. This phenomenon is critically addressed in electronic applications because the wettability inhabitancy of nichrome thin films tends to reduce the solderability of the metal. The decrease in solderability will lead to many difficulties such as poor connecting strength of wires and fluctuations of resistance. In this study, two approaches were introduced to enhance the wettability of nichrome alloy surface. In the first approach a liquid salt solution was used in an acidic environment (ZnCl2/HCl) to remove the oxide passivation layer, thereby, to enhance the wettability of the nichrome alloy. Lead-free industrial solder alloy, SN100C (Sn / Cu 0.70% / Ni 0.06% / Ge 0.005%.) was used as the soldering material for this experiment. Solder drops were formed on the Nichrome thin film (With and without treatment of (ZnCl2/HCl) in 325-350°C temperature range. The second approach was an electroplating process to form a thin nickel coat (3 μm) on the nichrome surface. A two-step plating process was carried out. Various plating conditions such as pH- condition, thickness and current density were controlled of the watts bath to obtain the best wettability and adhesion. An experimental setup together with an image processing software was developed to process the image of the solder droplet and measure the contact angles of the nichrome-solder alloy interface. The contact angle measurements were based on the sessile droplet method. The polynomial and ellipse fitting methods were used to digitize the drop shape.The results of the study show that the contact angles of solder droplets were reduced by more than 50 percent after the ZnCl2/HCl treatment. Contact angles can be reduced by more than 60 percent by nickel electroplating. Therefore, the solderability of the nichrome alloy is significantly enhanced by both treatments. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher Department of Materials Science and Engineering en_US
dc.subject Nichrome en_US
dc.subject Wettability en_US
dc.subject Contact angle en_US
dc.subject Solderability en_US
dc.subject Electroplating en_US
dc.title Development of a method to measure contact angles of sessile droplets to analyze and enhance the surface wettability of nichrome en_US
dc.type Conference-Abstract en_US
dc.identifier.faculty Engineering en_US
dc.identifier.department Department of Materials Science and Engineering en_US
dc.identifier.year 2020 en_US
dc.identifier.conference Materials Engineering Symposium on Innovations for Industry 2020 en_US
dc.identifier.place Katubedda en_US
dc.identifier.pgnos p. 20 en_US
dc.identifier.proceeding Towards smart society through innovative materials en_US
dc.identifier.email aruna.pr@outlook.com en_US
dc.identifier.email amarasinghes@uom.lk en_US


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