Core-shell Composite Material Research Articles

Synthesis of ZnO@ZIF-8 Nanorods with Enhanced Response to VOCs

It is an effective way to produce core–shell composite materials by coating nano-metal oxides with metal-organic framework. A self-sacrificial method was reported. ZnO was transformed into ZIF-8 and attached to ZnO. Through the in situ transformation of zinc oxide particles in the matrix, a great many pores are formed to ensure that all parts of ZnO can contact the gas. ZnO has three main functions, providing Zn2+ for ZIF-8 and serving as a template for ZIF-8’s growth, and as an active material to detect gases. ZIF-8 has two functions. Firstly, it has hydrophobicity to avoid the impact of steam on the gas detection of ZnO; secondly, it can provide a large amount of pores, increase the specific surface area. A great many defects created at the interface of the two materials increases the active sites. The gas-sensing performance of ZnO to volatile organic compounds can be improved using the advantages of both materials. The composite sensor has an optimal operating temperature of 350 °C and has more than tripled its response to 50 ppm gases relative to the ZnO sensor. In addition, a gas-sensing mechanism is proposed. An effective strategy for developing high-response VOC sensors is presented in this work.

Lightweight, Low-Cost Co2SiO4@diatomite Core-Shell Composite Material for High-Efficiency Microwave Absorption.

The porous and biomimetic cobalt silicate@diatomite (Co2SiO4@diatomite) was successfully synthesized by a two-step method, including the hydrothermal method and calcination to improve the electromagnetic wave absorption property. Different hydrothermal times were well-tuned for Co2SiO4@diatomite composites with different loadings of Co2SiO4. Interestingly, the Co2SiO4@diatomite composites (6 h, 25 wt%) had a smaller minimum reflection loss. Moreover, the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) could reach −12.03 dB at 16.64 GHz and the matched absorber thickness was 10 mm, while the effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL ≤ −10 dB) could be 1.92 GHz. In principle, such findings indicate that Co2SiO4@diatomite nanocomposites could be a promising candidate for high-efficiency microwave absorption capability.

Hierarchical FeCo2O4@CoSe core–shell nanosheet arrays on nickel foam for high-performance supercapacitor

Self-growing FeCo2O4@CoSe/NF layered core–shell composite materials on Ni foam (NF) were prepared by hydrothermal method and electrodeposition method. CoSe shell effectively increased the conductivity of FeCo2O4 core, and the synergistic effects of the two contents effectively improved the overall electrochemical performance. At a current density of 1A/g, FeCo2O4@CoSe/NF achieved a specific capacity of 724.2C/g and capacity retention rate of 94.1% after 5000 cycles. The assembled asymmetric capacitor (ASC) also achieved a high energy density of 57.19Wh/kg when the power density is 750 W/kg.

Supported Cu/W/Mo/Ni—Liquid Metal Catalyst with Core-Shell Structure for Photocatalytic Degradation

Room-temperature liquid metal is a very ideal material for the design of catalytic materials. At low temperatures, the liquid metal enters the liquid state. It provides an opportunity to utilize the liquid phase in the catalysis, which is far superior to the traditional solid-phase catalyst. Aiming at the low performance and narrow application scope of the existing single-phase liquid metal catalyst, this paper proposed a type of liquid metal/metal oxide core-shell composite multi-metal catalyst. The Ga2O3 core-shell heterostructure was formed by chemical modification of liquid metals with different nano metals Cu/W/Mo/Ni, and it was applied to photocatalytic degrading organic contaminated raw liquor. The effects of different metal species on the rate of catalytic degradation were explored. The selectivity and stability of the LM/MO core-shell composite catalytic material were clarified, and it was found that the Ni-LM catalyst could degrade methylene blue and Congo red by 92% and 79%, respectively. The catalytic mechanism and charge transfer mechanism were revealed by combining the optical band gap value. Finally, we provided a theoretical basis for the further development of liquid metal photocatalytic materials in the field of new energy environments.

Shape-selective alkylation of benzene with ethylene over a core–shell ZSM-5@MCM-41 composite material

A series of ZSM-5@MCM-41 core–shell composite materials prepared via a multi-cycle-sol–gel coating strategy is investigated as the catalyst for benzene alkylation with ethylene, in which both ethylbenzene and para-diethylbenzene ( p- DEB) are aimed as the target products. With multi-cycle-sol–gel coating, the external acid sites on the samples are gradually passivated by the inert MCM-41 shell. As a result, the shape selectivity to p- DEB is greatly enhanced. Nevertheless, the coating of mesoporous MCM-41 shell on ZSM-5 accelerates deactivation of the catalyst only due to the dilution effect of ZSM-5 content in the catalyst at the same space velocity, which is a reason that core–shell ZSM-5@MCM-41 will potentially be a practical catalyst in shape selective alkylation of benzene. In order to enhance the yield of p- DEB on ZSM-5@MCM-41, the reaction conditions at the fixed bed reactor including temperature, the molar rate of benzene to ethylene and GHSV, are also optimized.

Preparation and Characterizations of Nanomaterial by Pulsed Laser Ablation in Liquid (PLAIL) as Friendly Environment Paint

In this research, silver oxide and nickel oxide were prepared as collide using Pulsed Laser Ablation in Liquid (PLAIL) method in the water. In all preparation case, the laser parameters were fixed at optimum conditions (laser energy 600 mJ with frequency 1 Hz at room temperature) and nanomaterial was added in several proportions (2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%, 12%) to the local paint. Physical properties of the nano-collide were studied by Uv-visible spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), contact angle (CA). A colloid as core-shell (composite materials) was obtained when the two slices were placed together in the water and ablated them by laser. It has shown the best results compared to using its individual Ni or Ag. The local paint was tested in two cases: the first by adding nickel and silver as micro-scale, and in the other in nanoscale to compare which one the best in the self-cleaning. The nanomaterial at a percentage 12% showed the best results when it added to the paint; it for their properties such as adhesion strength and hardness strength, exposure to weather conditions of temperature, and humidity. The adhesive strength increased when adding the nanomaterial from 112 to 139 before exposure to the weather and from 58 to 108 after exposure. The hardness also increased from 77.9 to 86.5 before exposure to the surrounding environment and from 94.2 to 96.8 after exposure.

Formation and characterization of core-shell CL-20/TNT composite prepared by spray-drying technique

The core-shell 2,4,6,8,10,12-Hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane/2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (CL-20/TNT) composite was prepared by spray-drying method in which sensitive high energy explosive (CL-20) was coated with insensitive explosive (TNT). The structure and properties of different formulations of CL-20/TNT composite and CL-20/TNT mixture were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Laser particle size analyzer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), impact sensitivity test and detonation performance. The results of SEM, TEM, XPS and XRD show that ϵ-CL-20 particles are coated by TNT. When the ratio of CL-20/TNT is 75/25, core-shell structure is well formed, and thickness of the shell is about 20–30 nm. And the analysis of heat and impact show that with the increase of TNT content, the TNT coating on the core-shell composite material can not only catalyze the thermal decomposition of core material (CL-20), but also greatly reduce the impact sensitivity. Compared with the CL-20/TNT mixture (75/25) at the same ratio, the characteristic drop height of core-shell CL-20/TNT composite (75/25) increased by 47.6% and the TNT coating can accelerate the nuclear decomposition in the CL-20/TNT composites. Therefore, the preparation of the core-shell composites can be regarded as a unique means, by which the composites are characterized by controllable decomposition rate, high energy and excellent mechanical sensitivity and could be applied to propellants and other fields.

MoP@MoO3 S-scheme heterojunction in situ construction with phosphating MoO3 for high-efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production.

As important artificial photosynthesis, the construction of core-shell heterojunction materials is considered to be one of the effective strategies for designing highly active photocatalysts. Here, the Step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction photocatalyst is firmly grown by in situ phosphating. The calcination method uses MoO3 nanoparticles as the substrate, and the surface of MoO3 is phosphatized and etched gradually from the outside to the inside using the phosphine gas. The introduced phosphorus atoms can replace MoO3 oxygen atoms to form Mo-P bonds to generate molybdenum phosphide. The interface interaction dominated by chemical bonds has a stronger interface interaction force, which can promote the interface charge transfer leading to optimizing the MoP@MoO3 core-shell composite material, adjusting the quality of sodium hypophosphite, and phosphating MoO3 to varying degrees, producing the best hydrogen production H2 evolution rate is 10 000.02 μmol h-1 g-1. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and a series of experiments were used to determine the S-scheme charge transfer mechanism in MoP@MoO3. This design provides a new idea for the introduction of surface-active sites and the construction of mixed anion photocatalysts. At the same time, a new design scheme is provided for the in situ construction of S-scheme interface heterojunction materials.

A new strategy for the preparation of core-shell MOF/Polymer composite material as the mixed-mode stationary phase for hydrophilic interaction/ reversed-phase chromatography

A facile method for efficient synthesis of core-shell composite material was proposed. In this method, the silica microspheres were co-modified with metal organic framework (MOF-235) and polyethylene glycol polymer (PEG) and used as mixed-mode stationary phase (MOF-235@PEG@silica) for high-performance liquid chromatography. Elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller etc. methods were used to investigate the properties of the core-shell composite material. The MOF-235@PEG@silica stationary phase showed flexible selectivity for the separation of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds especially for the separation of nine alkaloids, which showed superior hydrophilic separation performance than previous MOF-based composite stationary phases. Some factors including the pH of buffer salt, the ratio of organic phase and water phase in the mobile phase have been investigated, suggesting that the chromatographic retention mechanism of the column was a mixed mode of hydrophilic and reversed phase. The composite material also showed excellent chromatographic repeatability with the RSDs of the retention time found to be 0.2%–0.6% (n = 10) and the standard addition test in the actual sample proved that it can be used for practical sample analysis. In short, it provided a general way for preparing MOFs-based composites as mixed-mode chromatographic stationary phases, and changed the current status of MOF-based composite materials as single mode chromatographic stationary phases.

Towards the Continuous Hydrothermal Synthesis of ZnO@Mg2Al-CO3 Core-Shell Composite Nanomaterials.

Core-shell Zinc Oxide/Layered Double Hydroxide (ZnO@LDH) composite nanomaterials have been produced by a one-step continuous hydrothermal synthesis process, in an attempt to further enhance the application potential of layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanomaterials. The synthesis involves two hydrothermal reactors in series with the first producing a ZnO core and the second producing the Mg2Al-CO3 shell. Crystal domain length of single phase ZnO and composite ZnO was 25 nm and 42 nm, respectively. The ZnO@LDH composite had a specific surface area of 76 m2 g−1, which was larger than ZnO or Mg2Al-CO3 when produced separately (53 m2 g−1 and 58 m2 g−1, respectively). The increased specific surface area is attributed to the structural arrangement of the Mg2Al-CO3 in the composite. Platelets are envisaged to nucleate on the core and grow outwards, thus reducing the face–face stacking that occurs in conventional Mg2Al-CO3 synthesis. The Mg/Al ratio in the single phase LDH was close to the theoretical ratio of 2, but the Mg/Al ratio in the composite was 1.27 due to the formation of Zn2Al-CO3 LDH from residual Zn2+ ions. NaOH concentration was also found to influence Mg/Al ratio, with lower NaOH resulting in a lower Mg/Al ratio. NaOH concentration also affected morphology and specific surface area, with reduced NaOH content in the second reaction stage causing a dramatic increase in specific surface area (> 250 m2 g−1). The formation of a core-shell composite material was achieved through continuous synthesis; however, the final product was not entirely ZnO@Mg2Al-CO3. The product contained a mixture of ZnO, Mg2Al-CO3, Zn2Al-CO3, and the composite material. Whilst further optimisation is required in order to remove other crystalline impurities from the synthesis, this research acts as a stepping stone towards the formation of composite materials via a one-step continuous synthesis.

2D metal-organic framework nanosheets-assembled core-shell composite material as stationary phase for hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography

The core-shell composites were first prepared by surface modification of silica spheres with two-dimensional MOF-FDM-23 nanosheets via a simple approach. The successful immobilization of 2D MOF-FDM-23 on the silica (2D MOF-FDM-23@silica) was confirmed by series of method including elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). The obtained material showed excellent separation performance for multiple polar compounds such as sulfonamides, alkaloids, antibiotic and amino acid compounds etc. In addition, it was found to be superior to most reported MOF-based stationary phases in terms of separation performance, preparative reproducibility and chromatographic stability. The reproducibility of material preparation was demonstrated by the difference in retention time of the same mixture on three batches of the material at different times. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the retention time for preparation repeatability was found to range from 0.5% to 1.4%. In short, the core-shell composite material prepared by this method broadened the application of MOF-based composites as chromatography stationary phase, and significantly developed the field of 2D MOF nanosheets in chromatography.

Fabrication of Polytetrafluoroethylene Coated Micron Aluminium with Enhanced Oxidation.

Aluminium (Al) powders of micron size are widely applied to energetic materials as a high energy fuel. However, its energy conversion efficiency is generally low due to low oxidation activity. In this paper, a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coating layer with both protection and activation action was successfully introduced onto the surface of Al via adsorption and following heat treatment. The preparation conditions were optimized and the thermal activity of this core-shell composite material was studied. The potential enhancement mechanism for Al oxidation was proposed. The results showed that PTFE powders deformed into membrane on the surface of Al after the sintering process. This polymer shell could act as an effective passivation layer protecting internal Al from oxidation during aging. The reduction in metallic Al of Al/PTFE was decreased by 84.7%, more than that in original spherical Al when the aging time is 60 days. Moreover, PTFE could react with Al resulting in a thin AlF3 layer, which could promote the destruction of Al2O3 shell. Thus, PTFE could enhance oxidation activity of micro-Al. The conversion of Al was increased by a factor of 1.8 when heated to 1100 °C. Improved aging-resistant performance and promoted oxidation activity of Al could potentially broaden its application in the field of energetic materials.

Self-supported NiSe@Ni3S2 core-shell composite on Ni foam for a high-performance asymmetric supercapacitor

In this work, NiSe@Ni3S2 core-shell composite material was prepared with Ni foam as a substrate. Due to their unique structure, the NiSe@Ni3S2 composite shows a superior specific capacitance of 1215 F g−1, which is better than pure NiSe. Meanwhile, the NiSe@Ni3S2 electrode demonstrates a wonderful cycling performance with 91.25% retention after 5000 cycles. The positive electrode materials and the negative electrode materials were designed employing the asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) and the activated carbon (AC), respectively (ASC was created using NiSe@Ni3S2 composite).When the optimal potential window of 1.8 V and the power density of 839 W kg−1, the maximum energy density of 38 W h kg−1 was reached. In addition, after 5000 charge-discharge cycles, the NiSe@Ni3S2/NF//AC ASC devices exhibit a favorable cycling performance of 81.8% capacitance retention. These outstanding electrochemical performances demonstrate feasible testimony to verify that the NiSe@Ni3S2 composite shows unlimited latent force at the research field of energy storage devices in the future.

An alternative approach for the preparation of a core-shell bimetallic central metal-organic framework as a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography stationary phase.

A new type of core-shell composite material was prepared and applied as a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) stationary phase. In this work, silica spheres were first modified with a bimetallic central metal-organic framework (ZnCoMOF) by a new strategy of static self-assembled in situ growth. This strategy was beneficial for increasing the electrostatic interaction between the MOF ligand and silica via introducing a sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) group. The ZnCoMOF@silica stationary phase was characterized and evaluated in comparison with amino-modified and bare silica columns in terms of various polar analytes including eight nucleosides and nucleobases, seven carbohydrates, and multiple sulfonamides and antibiotics. The effects of organic solvent concentration, water content, the concentration of the salt and the pH of the buffer solution on the retention time were studied, which demonstrated the typical retention behavior of HILIC on the ZnCoMOF@silica column. Compared with most reported MOF-based stationary phases, the new composite material showed excellent hydrophilic properties and separation efficiency for various polar analytes. Moreover, the obtained stationary phase showed good reproducibility and stability. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the retention time for repeatability was found to range from 0.1% to 0.6%, and the RSD of the retention time for stability was found to range from 0.3% to 0.7%. Furthermore, the column batch-to-batch reproducibility showed excellent preparation reproducibility, which few reported in most previous MOF@silica composite materials. This specific preparation method offers an easy and novel way to manipulate the amount of MOF particles on silica, which extends a universal way to produce various MOF@silica stationary phases by the method of static self-assembled in situ growth.

Multiple polarization effect of shell evolution on hierarchical hollow C@MnO2 composites and their wideband electromagnetic wave absorption properties

Abstract Nanoengineering technology has made great achievements, through the design of useful nanostructures and components, to provide us with more functional materials. Therefore, the ideal performance can be achieved by maximizing the contribution of nanostructures and components. As a typical material, core-shell material has been widely studied in order to find more possibilities in the nanoengineering applications. In this work, a designable core-shell composite material with graphitized tunable hollow carbon sphere as the core and sheet-like MnO2 particles as the shell is developed. The size and shell thickness of the core-shell shaped C@MnO2 was nearly 230, 40 nm, respectively. The correlation among shell-evolution, graphitized-tuned carbon core and their corresponding dielectric response ability has been well analyzed. The hollow carbon nanosphere@MnO2 with desirable real and imaginary permittivity (e'/e'') can be obtained in order to achieve the optimized electromagnetic (EM) absorption performance. One optimal reflection loss of −53.5 dB is gained at the thickness of 1.5 mm and the corresponding frequency region with RL

Magnetic CoOx@C-Reduced graphene oxide composite with catalytic activity towards hydrogen generation

Cobalt-containing magnetic core-shell structures are alternative catalysts with better catalytic performance for hydrogen evolution. In this study, a facile route is adopted to fabricate a CoOx@carbon-reduced graphene oxide composite containing Co nanoparticle cores, carbon shells, and reduced graphene oxide. During hydrogen generation through the catalytic hydrolysis of NaBH4 and NH3BH3, the surface of CoOx cores provides active catalytic sites, and the carbon shells protect the CoOx cores from aggregating into gigantic cobalt oxide granules. The magnetism of CoOx anchored onto reduced graphene oxide sheets achieves effectively a momentum transfer assisted by a motional external magnetic field. In a batch reactor, the composite exhibits a higher catalytic activity in a self-stirring mode than that in a magneton-stirring mode. This simple and efficient synthesis strategy is highly promising for the next development of both facile hydrogen generation and core-shell composite functional materials.

A Novel Method to Improve the Dispersibility of Silicon Nitride Powders in Aqueous Media

The present study describes a novel method to improve the dispersibility of silicon nitride powders in aqueous media. Specifically, a new Si3N4@g-C3N4 core–shell composite material was synthesized via annealing the mixture of silicon nitride and melamine under a nitrogen atmosphere using heating method. The effects of various initial mass ratios of Si3N4 and melamine on the structure and dispersibility of the composite were systematically investigated. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscope demonstrated that as-obtained Si3N4@g-C3N4 composite powders possess the core–shell structure, whereas the zeta potential and sedimentation analysis showed that they exhibit good dispersion in aqueous media. Furthermore, the colloidal dispersion of the composite powders is most stable when the initial mass ratio of Si3N4 and melamine is 100:3. The coated g-C3N4 could be completely removed in a cryogenic nitrogen atmosphere. The proposed process is expected to provide novel avenues for the study of dispersion of other inorganic powders.

Fabrication and characterization of a defect-free mixed matrix membrane by facile mixing PPSU with ZIF-8 core–shell microspheres for solvent-resistant nanofiltration

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) nanoparticles can act as microporous fillers to fabricate high-performance mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for solvent-resistant nanofiltration (SRNF) application. However, a high content of MOFs nanoparticles mixed in a polymeric membrane may be easily to form MOFs aggregates and MOFs/polymer interface defects, attributing to the decrease in membrane selectivity. In this study, ZIF-8 core–shell microspheres were synthesized by growing microporous ZIF-8 nanoparticles on the outer surface of macroporous resin microspheres (RMs), and then polyphenylsulfone (PPSU)/ZIF-8@RMs membranes were prepared in order to avoid the nonselective PPSU/ZIF-8 defects and then to improve SRNF performance of PPSU membranes. The effects of different type of fillers and ZIF-8@RMs content in PPSU MMMs were evaluated with respect to structural properties and SRNF performance. The obtained PPSU/ZIF-8@RMs membranes exhibited higher selectivity compared with the PPSU/ZIF-8 and PPSU/RMs membranes, due to the combination of the affinity of ZIF-8 nanoparticles, the microporous and microsphere structure of the ZIF-8 shells is benefit to reduce the defects between ZIF-8@RMs and PPSU. Compared with the pure PPSU membrane (with a rejection of 53% and a methanol flux of 35.2 kg m−2 h−1) for Methyl red (MR) removal, the optimal PPSU/ZIF-8@RMs membrane with filler content of 5.0 wt% significantly exhibited the improved rejection of 88.8% and the methanol flux slightly decreased to 33.0 kg m−2 h−1 at 1.0 MPa. Moreover, the PPSU/5.0 wt% ZIF-8@RMs membrane remained stable in 12-h SRNF process, and the MR rejection exceeding 86.2% was maintained. This method provides a good prospect for the combination of polymeric membranes and more types of MOF core–shell composite materials.

Enhanced Bifunctional Catalytic Activity of Manganese Oxide/Perovskite Hierarchical Core-Shell Materials by Adjusting the Interface for Metal-Air Batteries.

LaMnO3 perovskite is one of the most promising catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in metal-air batteries and can be compared to Pt/C. However, the low catalytic activity toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER) limits its practical application in rechargeable metal-air batteries. In this work, the MnO2/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 hierarchical core-shell composite materials with a special interface structure have been designed via the selective dissolution method. The core of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 particles is wrapped by the porous and loose MnO2 nanoparticles. The as-prepared MnO2/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 materials have excellent catalytic activity toward ORR/OER and are used as bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for metal-air batteries. Based on results of transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, valence-band spectroscopy, and O2 temperature-programmed desorption analysis, we conclude that the bifunctional catalytic activity of the MnO2/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 materials can be effectively promoted due to the specific interface structure between the La1-xSrxMnO3 core and the MnO2 shell. This can be attributed to three aspects: (a) the electronic conductivity, which is beneficial for providing the faster charge-transfer paths and kinetics at the oxide/solution interface than that of the MnO2 sample; (b) the enhancement of oxygen adsorption capacity due to surface defects (oxygen vacancies) and chemical adsorption, which is helpful to improve the reaction kinetics during the process of oxygen catalysis; and (c) the tuning of oxygen adsorption ability via the moderate Mn-O bond strength, which may be conducive to getting for obtain an enhanced Mn-O bond strength on the surfaces for ORR and a weakened Mn-O bond in the lattice for OER.

Core-shell copper nanowire-TiO2 nanotube arrays with excellent bipolar resistive switching properties

Electrochemical nanomaterial-based resistive switching devices (memristors) have recently attracted significant research interest because of their low cost and potential applications in nonvolatile data storage and artificial neural networks. In this paper, we report an electrochemical method to produce a novel memristor based on copper nanowire-titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (TNTAs), a core-shell composite material. TNTAs are fabricated using a cheap and effective electrochemical anodization method, and high-density copper nanowires are synthesized via excess-electrodeposition with a novel peeling-off strategy. This novel memristor shows both analogue and digital resistive switching properties by controlling the electroforming process. The Roff/Ron ratio of the digital memristor remains greater than 40 during 1000 consecutive I–V sweeps. The device shows good endurance over 104 pulse cycles, with an Roff/Ron ratio greater than 20. Furthermore, the data retention time can be maintained at least for 104 s. The outstanding digital resistive switching performance can be attributed to the numerous parallel copper nanowire nanoelectrodes inside the film.