Spontaneous Sn whisker formation on Ti2SnC

Synthesis and formation mechanism of titanium lead carbide

“…7). The decomposition of Ti 2 PbC phase is mainly attributed to the weak Ti-Pb bonding [23,24], which is consistent with the results of lattice parameter calculation (Table 2), namely easy formation of Pb vacancies. Decomposition of MAX phases, induced by the outward diffusion of A element from the layered structure under certain conditions, is well reported.…”

Effect of Cultivation Conditions on Tin Whisker Growth on Ti2SnC

“…The incubation period of the whiskers formed at elevated temperature is less than 30 min. It should be pointed out that Ti 2 SnC is capable of growing Sn whiskers at room temperature, 28 although the incubation period is 1 to 2 days or longer. Meanwhile, the AI samples (cultivated in air) obviously had more whiskers than the counterparts in argon.…”

“…5d and h. Figure 6 shows the schematic of the whisker growth process on Ti 2 SnC/Sn. 28,34 The whiskers nucleated from the pre-existing free Sn within the Ti 2 SnC/Sn substrate and grew by adding atoms at their base ends. It is worth pointing out that elemental Sn is necessary for the formation of Sn whiskers on Ti 2 SnC.…”

“…It is worth pointing out that elemental Sn is necessary for the formation of Sn whiskers on Ti 2 SnC. 28 Meanwhile, elemental Sn is easily oxidized in air, which leads to the formation of oxide film on the Sn whisker surface, as illustrated in Fig. 6b.…”

“…Recently, several instances of MAX phases (a family of layered ternary compounds 26,27 ), e.g. Ti 2 SnC, 28 Zr 2 InC, 29 and Cr 2 GaC, 30 have been found to grow metal whiskers heavily and much faster than metal or alloy substrates. 31 The whiskers grown on MAX phases share all the characteristics with the ones grown on Sn platings and solders, so it is considered that a similar mechanism is responsible for these whiskering phenomena.…”