An effective supramolecular metallohydrogel-based non-volatile memory device for application in logic gate circuit

Abstract

There is a huge demand for storage capabilities in a variety of applications due to the recent explosion of emerging memory technologies. Memory components based on gel materials show promise as future non-volatile storage architecture designs. Supramolecular gels represent as a “smart” material which is used in many fields such as sensor, nanoelectronics, logic gate, memory device, cosmetics and environmental remediation. These gels are formed through the combination of hydrogels and supramolecular chemistry. Here, we have successfully synthesized Mg(II)-ion-based supramolecular metallohydrogel using pentaethylenehexamine (i.e.Mg@PEH) as a low molecular weight gelator in aqueous medium under ambient conditions. FESEM and TEM images are used to explore the rectangular pebble-like hierarchical network of Mg@PEH metallohydrogel. From elemental mapping through EDX analysis we can confirm the presence of primary chemical constituents in the metallohydrogel. FT-IR spectroscopy provided insights into the possible formation strategy of the metallohydrogel. In this work, we have fabricated Mg(II)-ion-based supramolecular metallohydrogel (i.e.Mg@PEH)-based planner device in a lateral metal-semiconductor-metal configuration to explore its charge transport behaviour. Furthermore, using this Mg@PEH-based metallogel we created a resistive random access memory (RRAM) device that demonstrated bipolar resistive switching behaviour at room temperature. We have also observed their switching behavior at different low temperatures from 100 to 200K. To learn more about the resistive switching process, we investigated the switching mechanism, which involves formation and rupture of conduction filaments. Mg@PEH-based RRAM device showed an excellent endurance over 1000 switching cycles and good performance with a high ON/OFF ratio of roughly 100. This RRAM device has good endurance, which allows them to withstand a large range of read and write cycles without experiencing a noticeable loss in functionality. Here, we have also prepared 2 × 2 Mg@PEH-based crossbar device and observed how it can perform as a logic gate circuit which can be useful for neuromorphic and in-memory computing etc. The robust switching characteristics suggest the possible use of such devices for the design of eco-friendly bioelectronic memory applications. Therefore, metallogel-based RRAM devices are appropriate for important applications in non-volatile memory device, flexible electronics, and optoelectronics devices that demand trustworthy memory solutions since they have demonstrated promising reliability in terms of long-term performance and stability.