Filamentary Conduction in Aloe Vera Film for Memory Application

Aloe vera gel was extracted, formulated and deposited as thin films by a facile solution process for memory application. The memory cell features a simple structure, in which a dried Aloe vera film was sandwiched in between an Ag top and ITO bottom electrode that was deposited on a glass substrate. Digital information can be encoded and stored as different resistance states of the Aloe vera film. Experimental results reveal that bipolar resistive switching behavior of the Aloe vera film is due to electrochemical growth and dissolution of metallic filaments connecting the top and bottom electrodes. The resistive switching behavior is highly reproducible with an ON/OFF ratio of over 104, a retention time of over 12 h, and can endure more than 100 switching cycles. Therefore, the Aloe vera film can serve as a promising platform for sustainable development of green electronics.