Bistable electrical switching and nonvolatile memory effect based on the thin films of polyurethane-carbon nanotubes blends

• Bistable nonvolatile memory devices with resistive switching characteristics were fabricated based on PU doping with SWCNTs.
• The addition of SWCNTs in PU layer could enlarge the ON/OFF state current ratio.
• The increase of SWCNTs enhanced the memory window significantly.

Bistable nonvolatile memory devices with resistive switching characteristics were fabricated based on polyurethane (PU) doping with single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). It has been demonstrated that the addition of SWCNTs in PU layer could enlarge the ON/OFF current ratio from 102–104 and keep a long retention time over 9 h. Besides, the increase of SWCNTs and charge traps induced by SWCNT reduced the current in OFF state and enhanced the memory window significantly. Furthermore, the resistive switching behavior of indium tin oxide/PU + SWCNTs/aluminum device was attributed to the formation and breakdown of SWCNTs percolated network structure in the PU composites.