Impact of Surface Chemistry on Copper Deposition in Mesoporous Silicon

An easy, efficient, and safe process is developed to metallize mesoporous silicon (PSi) with Cu from the decomposition of a solution of mesitylcopper (CuMes) in an imidazolium-based ionic liquid (IL), [C1C4Im][NTf2]. The impregnation of a solution of CuMes in IL affords the deposition of metallic islands not only on the surface but also deep within the pores of a mesoporous Si layer with small pores below 10 nm. Therefore, this process is well suited to efficiently and completely metallize PSi layers. An in-depth mechanistic study shows that metal deposition is due to the reduction of CuMes by surface silane groups rather than by Si oxidation as observed in aqueous or water-containing media. This could open a new route to the chemical metallization of PSi by less-noble metals difficult to attain by a conventional displacement reaction.