1,10-Phenanthroline (phen) can be successfully used as an accelerator for Ag-catalysed electroless copper deposition (ECD) processes. Electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance analyses indicate that the mass activity in terms of thickness of deposited Cu layer and average ECD rate within a deposition time of 110 s for Ag nanoparticles activated by phen are 7.86 x 10(-3) pin mu g(-1) and 1.43 x 10(-4) mu m mu g(-1) s(-1), respec tively, whereas Ag nanoparticles without phen cannot catalyse the reaction. Furthermore, Tafel and cyclic voltammetric results show that the addition of phen to the ECD bath significantly enhances the ability of the Ag nanoparticles to catalyse the oxidation of HCHO and suppresses the formation of CuO. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.