A series of poly(aryl ether)s were successfully prepared via aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction from various bisphenols and a novel bipolar aryl difluoride monomer containing electron-donor triphenylamine and electron-acceptor 1,2,4-triazole moieties. The poly(aryl ether)s exhibited excellent solubility in organic solvents such as dimethylformamide, chloroform, and tetrahydrofuran at room temperature. The poly(aryl ether)s showed high thermal stability with T-d10 higher than 500 degrees C and glass transition temperatures (T-g) higher than 187 degrees C. The thin films of the poly(aryl ether)s indicated bistable resistive switching behavior with ON/OFF current ratios as high as 10(3). The switching on and switching off bias voltages of the poly(aryl ether)s were affected by the bisphenol moiety. The good resistive switching behavior of the poly(aryl ether)s made them promising candidates for future nonvolatile memory applications. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.