In plastic materials that are flame retardant with red phosphorous, outgassing can occur.
This has an impact on electronic components – in relays, for example, it can cause increased contact resistance, and some corrosion phenomena of components on printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) can also be traced back to red phosphorous.
In both the outgassing itself and the corrosion process, humidity plays a crucial role. In certain environmental conditions, it leads to the formation of different phosphorous acids and gaseous phosphine.
Now, there is a whitepaper available, comprehensively addressing the phenomenon and discussing ways to tackle it.
On the occcasion of its presentation during the latest International Conference on Electrical Contacts (ICEC), Panasonic Industry's most specialized experts spoke about the influence of plastics containing red phosphorous on electronic components and relays and shared their research of the influence of three differently flame-retarded polyamide (PA) choke coil bobbins on the contact resistances of a nearby unsealed relay.
This illustrated fundamental component design-in insights to overcome contact failures and increase the reliability and lifetime of applications using relays.
For anyone interested in learning more details about this topic, a comprehensive whitepaper from Panasonic's researchers is available free of charge here.