cc-byGuzmánD FigueroaA SolizA GuzmánA AguilarC Galleguillos-MadridFM PortilloC ShahAlexis Guzmán MendezÁlvaro Soliz AyalaAugusto FigueroaGUZMAN MENDEZ DANNY FRANCISCO2025-06-052025-06-052024https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12740/22631Ag-based electrical contact materials are essential in low-voltage devices such as relays, switches, circuit breakers, and contactors. Historically, Ag-CdO composites have been preferred due to their superior electrical and thermal conductivities, resistance to arcing, and mechanical strength. However, the toxicity of Cd has led to increased restrictions on its use. With the aim of contributing to the development of a new environment-friendly, Ag-Zn2SnO4-based electrical contact material, the kinetics of the hot mechanochemical oxidation of a Ag-Sn-Zn solid solution obtained by mechanical alloying were investigated. The results indicated that the proposed synthesis route produces Ag-based composites with a homogeneous distribution of nanoscale Zn2SnO4 precipitates, which is unattainable through conventional material processing methods. This kinetic study established that the mechanochemical oxidation of the Ag-Sn-Zn solid solution follows the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov model. An analysis of the microstructure and the relationship between the activation energy "Ea" and the Avrami exponent "n" from experimental data fitting suggests that the primary mechanism for the oxidation of the Ag-Sn-Zn solid solution during the hot mechanochemical process is related to the three-dimensional oxide growth being limited by oxygen diffusion after its immediate initial nucleation. C1 [Guzman, Danny; Figueroa, Augusto; Soliz, Alvaro; Guzman, Alexis] Univ Atacama, Dept Ingn Met, Ave Copayapu 485, Copiapo 1530000, Chile. [Aguilar, Claudio] Univ Tecn Federico Santa Maria, Dept Ingn Metalurg & Mat, Ave Espana 1680, Valparaiso 2340000, Chile. [Galleguillos-Madrid, Felipe M.; Portillo, Carlos] Univ Antofagasta, Ctr Desarrollo Energet Antofagasta, Ave Univ Antofagasta 02800, Antofagasta 1271155, Chile. [Shah, Syed Ismat] Univ Delaware, Dept Mat Sci & Engn, Newark, DE 19716 USA. [Shah, Syed Ismat] Univ Delaware, Dept Phys & Astron, Newark, DE 19716 USA. C3 Universidad de Atacama; Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria; Universidad de Antofagasta; University of Delaware; University of Delawareinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesselectrical contact materialsmechanical alloyinghot mechanochemical processingkinetic studyChemistry; Materials Science; Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering; PhysicsArticulo de revista10.3390/ma17205115