Corrosion protection of sintered nano-copper in chlorine-rich environments based on atmospheric pressure plasma jet surface treatment
Jinyuan Zhang (Fudan University)
Wei Chen (Fudan University)
Junwei Chen (Fudan University)
Baotong Guo (Fudan University)
Hongyu Tang (Fudan University)
Chuan Chen (China National Electric Apparatus Research Institute Co., Ltd)
Guoqi Zhang (TU Delft - Electronic Components, Technology and Materials)
Jiajie Fan (Fudan University, Research Institute of Fudan University, Ningbo, TU Delft - Electronic Components, Technology and Materials)
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Abstract
With the rapid development of new energy vehicles and offshore wind power systems in coastal cities, the application scale of power devices is constantly increasing. However, the corrosion problem of power packaging interconnection materials caused by the humid air and chlorine-rich environment near the sea is gradually emerging. This study addresses the corrosion protection of sintered nano-copper by innovatively employing atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) technology with hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) as precursor to construct organic-inorganic hybrid hydrophobic coatings on copper surfaces. Experimental results demonstrate that the coating exhibits a three-dimensional crosslinked Si-O network structure. The synergistic effect between surface micron-scale spherical clusters and methyl groups elevates the contact angle by 50 % to 153.1° Electrochemical characterization reveals that the coating positively shifts corrosion potential by 0.035 V and reduces corrosion current density from 6.008×10−7 A/cm2 to 5.542×10−7 A/cm2, while maintaining higher activation energy across the experimental temperature range (30–60℃). EIS tests show that the coating effectively increases the charge transfer impedance of the sample, indicating an improvement in corrosion resistance. The 168-hour immersion test confirms effective barrier against Cl−corrosive attack with preserved substrate integrity. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations elucidate that unsaturated methylated fragments in HMDSO preferentially graft onto copper surface via chemisorption, where strong interfacial bonding energies (-2.26 ∼ -4.38 eV) facilitate cleavage and crosslinking to form stable siloxane networks. This work proposes a novel anti-corrosion surface engineering strategy for copper interconnects, while revealing the plasma-induced interfacial bonding mechanisms of hybrid coatings, providing both theoretical and experimental foundations for developing durable electronic packaging materials.