Investigations on the surface chemistry of the self-assembly process (
chemisorption) of thiols on copper are reported. The chemisorption was
investigatd on copper sheets and on copper powder. Copper exposed to
air is covered with a thin oxide layer. On contact with thiols the oxi
dic copper species are transformed to copper thiolates by a redox ract
ion. Cu2+ is reduced to Cu+ and thiol (HSR) is oxidized to disulphide
(RS-SR). Excess thiol forms copper thiolate complexes which build up s
elf-assembled multilayers with layer thicknesses of 20-90 nm. The self
-assembled thiolate layers cause a strong hydrophobization of the copp
er surface.