The quest for miniaturisation of electronic devices is one of the backbones of industry 4.0 and nanomaterials are an envisaged solution capable of addressing these complex technological challenges. When subjected to synthesis and processing, nanomaterials must be able to hold pristine its initial designed properties, but occasionally, this may trigger degradation mechanisms that can impair their application by either destroying their initial morphology or deteriorating of mechanical and electrical properties. Degradation of nanomaterials under processing conditions using plasmas, ion implantation and high temperatures is up to date largely sub-notified in the literature. The degradation of single-crystal Cu nanowires when exposed to a plasma environment with residual active O is herein investigated and reported. It is shown that single-crystal Cu nanowires may degrade even in low-reactive plasma conditions by means of a vapour–solid–solid nucleation and growth mechanism.

对电子设备小型化的追求是工业4.0的主干之一，而纳米材料是一种能够解决这些复杂技术挑战的设想解决方案。当进行合成和加工时，纳米材料必须能够保持原始的原始设计特性，但是偶尔，这可能会触发降解机制，破坏其初始形态或降低机械和电学性能，从而损害其应用。迄今为止，在使用等离子体，离子注入和高温的处理条件下纳米材料的降解在文献中尚未得到充分的报道。本文研究并报道了当暴露于具有残留活性O的等离子体环境中时，单晶Cu纳米线的降解。