One-Pot Preparation of Mechanically Robust, Transparent, Highly Conductive, and Memristive Metal–Organic Ultrathin Film

The
future of 2D flexible electronics relies on the preparation
of conducting ultrathin films of materials with mechanical robustness
and flexibility in a simple but controlled manner. In this respect,
metal–organic compounds present advantages over inorganic laminar
crystals owing to their structural, chemical, and functional diversity.
While most metal–organic compounds are usually prepared in
bulk, recent work has shown that some of them are processable down
to low dimensional forms. Here we report the one-pot preparation,
carried out at the water–air interface, of ultrathin (down
to 4 nm) films of the metal–organic compound [Cu2I2(TAA)]n (TAA= thioacetamide).
The films are shown to be homogeneous over mm2 areas, smooth,
highly transparent, mechanically robust, and good electrical conductors
with memristive behavior at low frequencies. This combination of properties,
as well as the industrial availability of the two building blocks
required for the preparation, demonstrates their wide range potential
in future flexible and transparent electronics.