Design of biodegradable gelatin resistive memory with remarkable performance

Abstract

For electronic systems, the substrate can be treated as a cornerstone of the overall device structure. With the growth of green electronics, the development of biodegradable substrates is of great significance. Gelatin substrates demonstrate transparency, low temperature, low cost, and fully biodegradable. In particular, gelatin of porcine source (GP) possesses excellent elasticity and high amount of hydroxyproline, which significantly improves the structural stability and memory performance of the device. The device with Ag/gelatin/Ag structure on GP substrate has illustrated non-volatile memory characteristics to be reckoned with an ON/OFF ratio of over 105, uniformly distributed switching parameters (<20 %), and steady retention time (>104 s). It is striking that the resistive switching of the GP-based device maintains stability under various curvature bending stresses (ON/OFF ratio of approximately 105) and displays repeatable resistive states undergoes 1000 cycles of bending tests, not only provides excellent structural reliability and robust mechanical flexibility but also effectively suppresses leakage current in devices, which is beneficial for flexible memory applications. Furthermore, the device possesses outstanding thermal stability, and numerous resistive switching behaviors even at 70 °C are observed. The conductive mechanism may be attributed to the ionic migration in the Ag ions chelating in amine groups of gelatin on the basis of the compelling electrical evidence for Ag/gelatin/Ag/GP devices. The biomass substrate disintegrates entirely in PBS solution without toxic residues, providing a novel design guideline for biomedical applications inspired by implantable, interventional medical, and wearable electronics.