Preparation of Zn1-xCrxO resistive switching film and its corrosion behavior in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution

Zn 1- x Cr x O resistive switching film with different Cr content was prepared on SS304 substrate by sol–gel method combined with spin plating and heat treatment. The surface morphology, composition, structure, semiconductor type and oxygen vacancy concentration of Zn 1- x Cr x O films were observed and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Mott-Schottky curves, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (ESR) and density functional theory (DFT) calculation. And the corrosion resistance of Zn 1- x Cr x O film were investigated by polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results show that the prepared Zn 1- x Cr x O films have a uniform dense surface which belongs to n -type semiconductor type, and the oxygen vacancy concentration in the films increases with the increase of Cr content. With the increasing of Cr content, the corrosion resistance of films is decreased. During the immersion process, the corrosion resistance of Zn 1- x Cr x O film is firstly increased and then decreased with increasing immersion time. By applying immersion and polarization treatment the corrosion resistance of Zn 1- x Cr x O film could be regulated between the high and low resistance states (HRS and LRS) due to the creation and disappearance of oxygen vacancies in the film.