Octanethiol coating of nano-sized copper powders using the vapor self-assembled monolayer method

Recent research has focused on preventing copper oxidation for direct wiring applications. In this study, a novel coating method was developed for nano-sized copper powders using vapor self-assembled monolayer (VSAM). The surfaces of oxidized and non-oxidized copper powders were studied to determine whether they can be coated with a vapor form of octanethiol. It was found that non-oxidized copper powders were successfully coated with the vapor form of octanethiol according to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. However, due to the partial coating of self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on a copper surface, a very small amount of copper oxide was detected when the coating mechanism was verified using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Overall, the vapor form of octanethiol successfully adhered to the surface of nanosized copper powders, constituting the novel method of preventing oxidation. A complete coating method for the nano-sized copper powders must be developed in future research.