 Characteristic of an integral domain

The positive characteristic of a ring which is an integral domain is a prime number. The characteristic cannot be one because $1\ne 0$. If its least positive value were $n=ab$ with $1<a,b<n$, minimality would make $a1$ and $b1$ nonzero, while $(a1)(b1)=n1=0$ would give zero divisors.

The analogous result holds for a nonzero commutative nonunital ring without zero divisors, using the characteristic of a rng. If $n=ab$ were composite and minimal, choose $r$ with $ar\ne 0$. For every $s$, $(ar)(bs)=n(rs)=0$, so cancellation forces $bs=0$ for every $s$, contradicting minimality of $n$.