A new approach on usage of S-1-dodecyl-S'-(alpha,alpha'-dimethyl-alpha ''-acetic acid)trithiocarbonate (DDAT)-covalently functionalized graphene oxide (GO) as reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) agent for growing of poly(N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) directly from the surface of GO was described. The PVK polymer covalently grafted onto GO has M-n of 8.05 x 10(3), and a polydispersity of 1.43. The resulting material PVK-GO shows a good solubility in organic solvents when compared to GO, and a significant energy bandgap of similar to 2.49 eV. Bistable electrical switching and nonvolatile rewritable memory effect, with a turn-on voltage of about -1.7 V and an ON/OFF state current ratio in excess of 10(3), are demonstrated in the Al/PVK-GO/ITO structure. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 49: 2043-2050, 2011