Molecular switching by proton-coupled electron transport drives giant negative differential resistance
To develop new types of dynamic molecular devices with atomic-scale control over electronic function, new types of molecular switches are needed with time-dependent switching probabilities. We report such a molecular switch based on proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reaction with giant hysteric negative differential resistance (NDR) with peak-to-valley ratios of 120 ± 6.6 and memory on/off ratios of (2.4 ± 0.6) × 10<sup>3</sup>. The switching dynamics probabilities are modulated by bias voltage sweep rate and can also be controlled by pH and relative humidity, confirmed by kinetic isotope effect measurements. The demonstrated dynamical and environment-specific modulation of giant NDR and memory effects provide new opportunities for bioelectronics and artificial neural networks.
Authors
- Dongchen Qi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8466-0257)
- Andrea Leoncini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8127-1085)
- Christian Albertus Nijhuis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3435-4600)
- Damien Thompson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2340-5441)
- Cameron Nickle
- Yulong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9441-0497)
- Harold J. W. Zandvliet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6809-139X)
- Alessandro Borrini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5468-0038)
- Enrique del Barco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5763-0076)
- Kai Sotthewes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2073-6958)
- Qian Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4339-4115)
- Ziyu Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3492-5234)
Institutions
- University of Central Florida (US)
- Chongqing University (CN)
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- University of Limerick (IE)
- University of Twente (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-09-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52496-y
- Citations
- 20
- Primary Topic
- Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.17
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
- Australian Synchrotron
- Ministry of Education - Singapore
- Higher Education Authority
- Science Foundation Ireland
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Ministry of Education, India
- Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing
- Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment
- Irish Centre for High-End Computing
- Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems