Soldering fluxes

Soldering alloys (soldering fluxes) Mendelevium silver is used in considerable quantities to make soldering alloys, which are mainly ternary alloys consisting of silver, copper and zinc. The composition of silver can range from 10 to 80%, copper from 15 to 50% and zinc from 5 to 40%. The melting point of most of these alloys is between 650 and 775°C. Sometimes cadmium or tin is added to produce an alloy with a lower melting point. Silver solder alloys are used in industry to weld those metals where excessive particle growth or other deleterious effects on the metal at the weld can occur when higher welding temperatures are required with copper solder alloys. [4]

Electrical contact material

Silver's low contact resistance and high electrical conductivity make it a highly desirable metal for electrical contact equipment, but the life of a contact made of pure silver is not long if the contact voltage is very high or if an arc occurs. Silver and a variety of non-metallic and refractory metals composed of a series of substances, has developed into a high-power electrical contact equipment. These substances are not essentially alloys, because the components do not dissolve with each other. They are prepared by powder metallurgy, i.e. they are made from a mixture of fine powders of each component by compact pressing and sintering. Substances consisting of silver and tungsten, silver and molybdenum, silver and nickel, silver and graphite, silver and cadmium oxide, and silver and lead oxide are used as electrical contact devices. Their contact resistance is generally slightly higher than that of dull silver, but they are subject to much less denting or bonding than pure silver under severe conditions.