Abstract: By the ball/plane contact method, fretting wear tests under electrical contact were conducted on copper with a self-developed electrical contact wear test setup. The effect of surface-attached soot and dust particles on the fretting wear property of the copper under electrical contact was studied. The results show that the contact resistance with dust particles on surfaces was much higher than that with soot particles on surfaces. The soot particles had an antifriction effect; increasing the number of soot particles reduced the friction coefficient. The dust particles had the opposite effect. Introducing both the soot and the dust particles reduced the fretting wear of the samples; the width and depth of the wear scar, and the amount of wear were all negatively related to the number of particles attached.