Copper Contamination of Self-Assembled Organic Monolayer Modified Silicon Surfaces Following a “Click” Reaction Characterized with LAPS and SPIM

A copper(I)-catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction combined with microcontact printing was used successfully to pattern alkyne-terminated self-assembled organic monolayer-modified silicon surfaces. Despite the absence of a copper peak in X-ray photoelectron spectra, copper contamination was found and visualized using light-addressable potentiometric sensors (LAPS) and scanning photo-induced impedance microscopy (SPIM) after the “click”-modified silicon surfaces were rinsed with hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution, which was frequently used to remove copper residues in the past. Even cleaning with an ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) solution did not remove the copper residue completely. Different strategies for avoiding copper contamination, including the use of bulky chelators for the copper(I) catalyst and rinsing with different reagents, were tested. Only cleaning of the silicon surfaces with an EDTA solution containing trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) after the click modification proved to be an effective method as confirmed by LAPS and SPIM results, which showed the expected potential shift due to the surface charge introduced by functional groups in the monolayer and allowed, for the first time, imaging the impedance of an organic monolayer.