Because the side terminal plays a very important role in the electrical connection, the materials used for the terminal should be above the national standards in terms of fire resistance, insulation, impact resistance and other technical indicators, and the material stability of high-quality brand products is stronger.

At present, the terminal materials on the market mainly include polycarbonate, urea resin (tourmaline powder) and ABS engineering plastics.

1. Polycarbonate, commonly known as bulletproof glue. It is a kind of thermoplastic engineering plastics with excellent comprehensive properties. It has the advantages of high strength, high toughness, high heat resistance, high flame retardancy, high electrical insulation, UV resistance, color stability and no color change. It is widely used in the fields of automobile, electronic and electrical, building, office equipment, packaging, moving equipment, medical and health appliances, household products, etc. Most of the switches and sockets are used to make panels, frames and shells, and a few brands even use PC materials to make back seats.

2. Urea resin, also known as urea formaldehyde resin and UF, is commonly known as electrical jade powder. It is the main material of switch socket before 1990s in China. Compared with advanced PC material, the insulating material used for electrical products has poor impact resistance, wear resistance, insulation performance and high temperature resistance. It is also easy to change color, and the surface is rough when touched. It is a kind of material used by medium and low-grade brands, and is mainly used for making the panel of switches and sockets.

3. ABS, a acrylonitrile butadiene styrene terpolymer, is a kind of general-purpose engineering plastics with various varieties and wide uses, also known as "general plastics". It is also the main material for the domestic production of switch socket before the 1990s. At present, it is mainly used for the production of bottom box. Although ABS has a certain surface hardness, its impact resistance and flame retardancy are poor, and it is easy to oxidize and discolor, and the surface will turn yellow soon after use. However, many low-grade and ultra-low-grade switch and socket products still use ABS to make panel, frame and fixed frame, and it is not known as ABS, only called advanced engineering plastics.

It is worth noting that the switch socket made by ABS is generally used in some newly developed commercial houses, which is not suitable for home decoration at all.