Flexible memristors for next-generation electronics: materials, fabrication and applications

Abstract Flexible and printable memristors are emerging as transformative platforms at the intersection of materials science, electronics, and neuromorphic computing. By integrating mechanical flexibility with resistive-switching functionality, these devices open new opportunities for low-power, flexible, and next-generation wearable electronics. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in flexible memristors, highlighting progress in flexible substrates, scalable fabrication techniques, novel functional materials, and their diverse application domains. Key materials include polymer dielectrics, two-dimensional materials, metal oxides on flexible substrates, and organic–inorganic hybrids, engineered into thin films, nanosheets, nanorods, and nanocrystals through vapour deposition and solution-based routes. We discuss how material composition, deposition methodology, interface engineering, and nanostructuring approaches govern key performance metrics, including endurance, retention, switching speed, and mechanical robustness under bending or stretching. The evolution of switching mechanisms, from filamentary conduction to interface-mediated processes and ion migration, is contextualized with the emerging applications, including neuromorphic computing, flexible memory arrays, logic circuits, and bio-interfaced electronics, such as artificial skin and wearable health monitors. Further, we address the challenges associated with the practical applications of the flexible memristive devices and discuss the future directions of research that can be pivotal in shaping the future of intelligent, responsive electronics.