Water dissolvable MoS2 quantum dots/PVA film as an active material for destructible memristors

This report demonstrates the fabrication of a flexible, water-soluble MoS2 QDs/PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) film sandwiched between Cu electrodes as a resistive memory. The active material film (MoS2 QD/PVA) of the device exhibited outstanding water solubility, dissolving the active material completely in ∼180 s, making it a promising candidate for transient/destructible memories. The device exhibited significant merits with an ON/OFF ratio of ∼150 with good cycling stability, excellent reproducibility, and data retention capability up to 1000 cycles. The memristive phenomena can be accounted for by the charge trapping, de-trapping, and quantum tunneling effects observed in nanoscale MoS2 QDs. The successful fabrication of the water-soluble MoS2 QDs/PVA resistive RAM opens up new avenues and opportunities for the development of transient memory in the fields of military, security devices, and intelligence applications.