A two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride/polymer nanocomposite for flexible resistive switching devices

Organic–inorganic hybrid nanocomposites are an attractive choice for various electronic device applications. Owing to the unique characteristics of hybrid nanocomposites, we have explored the memory effect in a device, based on a 2D material: boron nitride (BN) and a polymer, polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH). This memory device has been fabricated on a flexible ITO coated PET substrate by using an all printed approach including electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) and reciprocating head (RPC). The fabricated device displayed nonvolatile, rewritable and characteristic bipolar resistive switching at a low current compliance and small operating voltage. The conduction mechanism was deduced to be conductive filamentary and verified by the effect of temperature and device size on switching characteristics. Raman, FTIR and UV/Vis spectroscopies were employed in studying the optical properties of as-deposited hBN/PVOH thin films. The morphological characteristics were analyzed by FESEM and AFM techniques. A bendability test at various bending diameters (50–4 mm) for 1500 cycles was carried out to show the mechanical robustness of the fabricated device. The remarkably stable and repeatable results of electrical and mechanical characterization make this hybrid nanocomposite a potential candidate for future flexible, robust and low power nonvolatile memory devices.