Abstract:High-purity cubic zinc stannate nanopowder with spinel structure was successfully synthesized by chemical co-precipitation method with different zinc sources, tin sources and precipitants as raw matterials. Zinc stannate nanopowders as reinforced phase were applied to strengthen the properties of silver-based electrical contact materials. Ag/Zn2SnO4 electrical contact materials were prepared by Mechanical Alloying and Powder Metallurgy technique. In this work, effects of the processing parameters such as heat treated temperature, types of zinc sources and types of precipitants on the microstructure and physical performance of Ag/Zn2SnO4 electrical contact materials were investigated. The morphology and phase of zinc stannate nanopowder were characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-ray Electron Diffractometry. The electrical resistivity, hardness and density of Ag/Zn2SnO4 electrical contact materials were also investigated in this paper. The results show that by using tin chloride, zinc chloride and sodium carbonate, under the condition of sintering temperature at 1000℃ for 3h, the optimal electrical resistivity, density and Vickers hardness of the Ag/Zn2SnO4 electrical contact material can reach 2.31μΩ·cm, 9.51g/cm3 and 65.63Hv0.5, respectively. Especially, the lower electrical resistivity of Ag/Zn2SnO4 contact prefers to that of traditional Ag/SnO2 electrical contacts. Compared with traditional Ag/SnO2 and Ag/ZnO electrical contacts, Ag/Zn2SnO4 electrical contact material has obvious advantages in electrical properties and density. And Ag/Zn2SnO4 electrical contact material also has more compact fracture morphology and shows better interface bonding performance.