Role of sulphur in resistive switching behavior of natural rubber-based memory

The rising environmental awareness has spurred the extensive use of green materials in electronic applications, with bio-organic materials emerging as attractive alternatives to inorganic and organic materials due to their natural biocompatibility, biodegradability, and eco-friendliness. This study showcases the natural rubber based resistive switching memory devices and how varying sulphur concentrations (0 - 0.8 wt.%) in natural rubber thin films impact the resistive switching characteristics. The natural rubber was formulated and processed into a thin film deposited on an ITO substrate as the bottom electrode and with an Ag film as the top electrode. The addition of sulphur modifies the degree of crosslinking in the natural rubber thin film, from which the concentration of -C=C- group and density of defect site (S+) are affected, and hence the resistive switching behavior of the memory device. The devices exhibit bipolar resistance with symmetric switching characteristics which are attributed to the formation of conductive paths facilitate by electron transport along -C=C- and S+ defect sites between the two electrodes. Notably, a sample with 0.2 wt.% sulphur exhibits a high ON/OFF ratio (104), a large memory window (5.5 V), prolonged data retention (10 years), and reliable endurance (120 cycles). These findings highlight the potential of natural rubber as a promising material for eco-friendly resistive-switching random access memory applications. .