Citation: Dlamini, Z.W.; Vallabhapurapu, S.; Vallabhapurapu, V.S. Resistive Switching Property of Raw Organic Cow Milk for Memory Application. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8250. https://doi.org/10.3390/ su15108250 Academic Editors: Athanasios Ragkos and Alexandros Theodoridis Received: 6 March 2023 Revised: 25 April 2023 Accepted: 27 April 2023 Published: 18 May 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Resistive Switching Property of Raw Organic Cow Milk for Memory Application Zolile Wiseman Dlamini 1,2, * , Sreedevi Vallabhapurapu 3 and Vijaya Srinivasu Vallabhapurapu 2 1 Department of Maths Science and Technology Education, Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa 2 Deparment of Physics, University of South Africa, Roodepoort 1709, South Africa 3 School of Computing, University of South Africa, Roodepoort 1709, South Africa * Correspondence: zoliledlamini@hotmail.com Abstract: Organic material-based computer memory devices are critical for lowering the amount of electronic waste. Toward this end, we here present the resistive switching property of metal- insulator-metal type devices consisting of active layers made of raw organic cow milk. Our devices were made up of fat-free, medium cream, and full cream raw cow milk active layers sandwiched between indium-doped tin oxide and silver electrodes. These devices were created without the use of heat or electricity, and because they use cow milk as their active layers, they do not pollute the environment. The medium-fat milk film had a higher weight percentage of metallic ions than the fat-free and full-cream milk films, according to energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis of the active layers. As a result, electrical characterization and memory studies revealed that conductive filaments driven by a space-charge-limited conduction mechanism were responsible for the “S-type” memory characteristics of the medium-fat milk-based device, with switching at remarkably low V SET =+0.48 V and V RESET = -0.25 V. Furthermore, with over 30 write/erase cycles, this device demonstrated better non-volatile computer memory device prospects. Hoping conduction-driven conductive filaments, on the other hand, were linked to the behavior of devices that use fat-free and full-cream milk. Overall, our findings show that the fat and ion content of milk plays an important role in the morphology, transport, and switching of these devices. Keywords: resistive switching; cow milk; organic ReRAM; conduction mechanism 1. Introduction Low-power and environmentally friendly computing devices are critical for realizing the green computing world. Hickmott’s discovery of the resistive switching phenomenon in ternary oxides in 1962 paved the way for the investigation of novel computer memory devices, commonly referred to as resistive switching memories (ReRAMs) [1]. The ReRAMs exhibit a sandwich-type architecture with two terminals and two dimensions, specifically a Metal-insulator-metal configuration. The active layer is positioned between two electrodes. This particular device exhibits the ability to manifest two distinct conductive states that are mutually interchangeable via electrical means. Despite the predominant emphasis on inorganic materials in ReRAM research, a significant breakthrough was made in 2006 when resistive switching was observed in organic materials, specifically in Tobacco mosaic virus [2]. The findings reported by Tseng and colleagues have resulted in a significant shift in the resistive switching research paradigm, as they have unveiled a novel cate- gory of resistive switching materials. Additionally, research studies have demonstrated that resistive switching memories based on organic materials, commonly referred to as organic ReRAMs, exhibit promising potential for low power consumption [3]. To operate the ReRAM, the SET (or write) process involves applying an electric stimulus across the electrodes to turn ‘ON’ the device by switching its resistance from a high resistive state Sustainability 2023, 15, 8250. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108250 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability