Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Assembly and Characterization of Biomolecular Memristors Consisting of Ion Channel-doped Lipid Membranes
Published on: March 9, 2019
Synthesis of Large-Area 2D Prussian Blue as Ion-Transport Channels for Non-Volatile Memristors
Ramón Torres-Cavanillas1,2, Hewen Chen3, Javier Castells-Gil4
1Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
None:
2D Prussian blue and its analogues hold great promise for applications in catalysis, energy conversion, sensing, and memory devices, thanks to their open frameworks, surface activity, and directional ion transport. However, synthesizing high-quality and large-area 2D films remains a major challenge. Here, we present a robust and scalable liquid-liquid interfacial synthesis that enables the formation of continuous, 2D flakes of Prussian blue (Fe3+[Fe2+(CN)6]0.75) with tunable thicknesses from ∼2 nm to several hundred nanometers. The controlled reduction of [Fe3+(CN)6]3- to [Fe2+(CN)6]4- enables slow, directed growth of 2D-FeFe layers. Unlike films formed from nanoparticles, this method yields high-quality flakes suitable for integration into devices. As a demonstration, we incorporated these films into Ag filament-based electrochemical metallization memristors. The 2D-FeFe devices ≥50 nm thick exhibited reliable bipolar electrical switching, with high Roff/on ratios (∼106), >6 h retention, and stability over 150 cycles. Strikingly, switching was observed across 1.5 µm lateral gaps, far exceeding conventional silver filament formation distances, highlighting the superior ion transport and structural integrity of these 2D frameworks. This scalable approach to 2D Prussian blue, which has the potential to be extended to other related coordination polymers, offers exciting opportunities beyond memristors, enabling integration into technologies where thin-film compatibility, directional ion transport, and high surface activity are critical, such as catalysis, energy storage, and neuromorphic computing.
Related Concept Videos
08:07Assembly and Characterization of Biomolecular Memristors Consisting of Ion Channel-doped Lipid Membranes
11:28Biofunctionalized Prussian Blue Nanoparticles for Multimodal Molecular Imaging Applications
Ion Channels
Ion channels are specialized integral membrane proteins on the plasma membrane that allow...
06:19Screening Ion Channels in Cancer Cells
Non-gated Ion Channels
Compared to the gated ion channels, the non-gated channels, also known as leakage or passive channels, have no gating mechanism....
07:46A Method for Growing Bio-memristors from Slime Mold
