Carbon films were fabricated by the carbonization of polyimide composite films with the incorporation of different metal catalyst. The carbonization process and the properties of the carbon films were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, four-point-probe device and vibrating sample magnetometer. It was found that the metal complex in the polyimide films promoted the carbonization of matrix polyimide and resulted in the increase of electrical conductivity of the films. The change from para-magnetic to ferromagnetic behavior was also observed with the increase of carbonization temperature.

In this paper, we report our works on the synthesis of a silver-nanoparticle-embedded polyimide (PI) thin film and its electrical bistability. A soluble PI, (4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene) diphthalic anhydride/4,4′-oxydianiline (6FDA/ODA), where the 6FDA part serves as an effective electron-accepting moiety, was synthesized in our current work as the polymer matrix. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) with diameters less than 7 nm were subsequently generated in situ in the parent PI film via ultraviolet (UV) reduction of the (1,1,1-trifluoro-2,4-pentadionato) silver(I) complex (AgTFA) previously incorporated in the matrix. Electrical characterization results on the sandwiched device (ITO|PI (6FDA/ODA)/silver nanohybrid film|Au) indicate that the nanohybrid material possesses electrical bistability and the device exhibits two accessible conductivity states, which can be reversibly switched from the low-conductivity state to the high-conductivity state with an ON/OFF current ratio of about 102. The device with the PI (6FDA/ODA)/silver nanohybrid film as the active layer shows nonvolatile memory behavior. The high-conductivity state and the low-conductivity state of the device can be sustained after the removal of the applied voltage. Mechanisms regarding the charge transfer in the nanohybrid material were discussed.