Bitrex: A new levelling agent for copper

We investigate the effects of denatonium benzoate (Bitrex) on the electrodeposition of copper films from a boric acid bath using scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical quartz microbalance (EQCM) measurements and corrosion studies. In the absence of Bitrex, pure copper films grown by this method are optically black owing to the appearance of complex surface nanostructures. The addition of Bitrex acts as a levelling agent preventing the formation of these nanostructures even for concentrations as low as 0.02 mM producing a lustrous film with low surface roughness. Bitrex is also found to improve the corrosion resistance by up to a factor of 20 and increase the current efficiency by over a factor of two. Bitrex is hypothesised to act directly on the cathode, partially inhibiting the growth or lowering the deposition current.

► Bitrex is a new levelling agent for copper.
► The addition of Bitrex increases corrosion resistance of copper films.
► The nature of pure copper electrodeposits depends on the growth template size.
► Bitrex increases coppers current efficiency.