Aerosolized liquid phase reaction method: an approach for the continuous preparation of highly dispersed copper nanoparticles

Abstract

An aerosolized liquid phase reaction method is proposed for the continuous preparation of highly dispersed copper nanoparticles. The copper precursor solution and reducing agent solution are mixed and aerosolized immediately into microdroplets, which prevents the synthesized copper nanoparticles from coming into contact and forming agglomerates. Compared to the traditional liquid phase synthesis of copper nanoparticles, this method reduces the average size of the nanoparticles from 309 to 210 nm and the maximum size of the agglomerates from ~ 10 to ~ 3 μm. As a result, the shear strength of the sintered joint made with the aerosol-produced nanoparticles is improved from 33 to 57 MPa, and the electrical resistance is reduced from 4.3 × 10–7 to 6.1 × 10–8 Ω·m. This method provides an effective approach to decrease agglomeration and improve the performance of metal nanoparticles for electronic packaging applications.