Exploration of Nonvolatile Memory and Synaptic Learning of a Metal–Organic Framework (ZIF-67) and 2D Material (MoS2) Composite Memristor

Nanocomposites incorporating zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) are highly promising for next-generation electronics, offering unique properties that are crucial for sustainable development. In particular, the use of composite-based memristors to emulate artificial synapses, termed neuromorphic memristors, has greatly propelled the advancement of bioinspired electronics. In this study, we demonstrate the nonvolatile memory and synaptic learning properties of the ZIF-67–MoS2 nanocomposite memristor device. The synthesized ZIF-67, MoS2, and ZIF-67–MoS2 composites were characterized by various analytical tools. The fabricated Ag/ZIF-67–MoS2/FTO device exhibits outstanding bipolar resistive switching behavior, enabling artificial biosynaptic emulation with continuous resistance modulation. The device demonstrates excellent cyclic reproducibility and reliability, with stable retention behaviors observed for up to 50,000 s. This device exhibits a unique switching property, which leads to bioinspired long-term potentiation and depression (LTP and LTD), making it suitable for nonvolatile digital memory and neuromorphic computing applications alike. The synaptic functionality of the memristor was assessed using a spiking neural network (SNN) for MNIST handwritten digit recognition, achieving an accuracy of 86.26%. This underscores the potential of the ZIF-67–MoS2 nanocomposite as a potential material in the development of high-performance neuromorphic computing systems.