Novel computing technologies that imitate the principles of biological neural systems may offer low power consumption along with distinct cognitive and learning advantages. The development of reliable memristive devices capable of storing multiple states of information has opened up new applications such as neuromorphic circuits and adaptive systems. At the same time, the explosive growth of the printed electronics industry has expedited the search for advanced memory materials suitable for manufacturing flexible devices. Here, we demonstrate that solution-processed MoOx/MoS2 and WOx/WS2 heterostructures sandwiched between two printed silver electrodes exhibit an unprecedentedly large and tunable electrical resistance range from 10(2) to 10(8) Ω combined with low programming voltages of 0.1-0.2 V. The bipolar resistive switching, with a concurrent capacitive contribution, is governed by an ultrathin (<3 nm) oxide layer. With strong nonlinearity in switching dynamics, different mechanisms of synaptic plasticity are implemented by applying a sequence of electrical pulses.
An approach to polymer surface modification using self-assembled layers (SALs) of functional alkoxysilanes has been developed in order to improve the printability of silver nanoparticle inks and enhance adhesion between the metal conducting layer and the flexible polymer substrate. The SALs have been fully characterized by AFM, XPS, and WCA, and the resulting printability, adhesion, and electrical conductivity of the screen-printed metal contacts have been estimated by cross-cut tape test and 4-point probe measurements. It was shown that (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane SALs enable significant adhesion improvements for both aqueous- and organic-based silver inks, approaching nearly 100% for PEN and PDMS substrates while exhibiting relatively low sheet resistance up to 0.1 Ω/sq. It was demonstrated that SALs containing functional -SH or -NH2 end groups offer the opportunity to increase the affinity of the polymer substrates to silver inks and thus to achieve efficient patterning of highly conductive structures on flexible and stretchable substrates.
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