Enabling superior stretchable resistive switching memory via polymer-functionalized graphene oxide nanosheets

Constructing portable and wearable electronic devices with mechanical flexibility and electrical reliability requires a rational compositional design and the structural optimization of the involved functional materials. In order to make resistive switching memory devices conform to the deformation of human muscles and joints, overlapping and intercalated graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets, which were covalently modified with electroactive polymers, were employed as the storage matrix to enable electrical bistability and superior stretchable capability via an easy charge transfer interaction and inter-nanosheet sliding, respectively. Using 3-thiophenemethanol chemically modified graphene oxide as the template, a poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) chain was in situ grafted on the surface of the GO nanosheets via an oxidative graft polymerization to form the switchable GO-P3HT complex, which exhibited a non-volatile memory effect with a small switching bias window of 2.95 V and an ON/OFF current ratio exceeding 104 in the Al/GO-P3HT/ITO-PDMS structured devices. More importantly, the device performance remained stable at a record-high stretching strain level of 50%, thus promising its potential application in flexible electronics applications.