Self-Adhesive, Stretchable, and Thermosensitive Iontronic Hydrogels for Highly Sensitive Neuromorphic...

Area of Science:

• Bioelectronics
• Materials Science
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Artificial sensory afferent nerves are crucial for bioelectronics, but challenges remain in achieving nanoscale contact, multimodal sensing, and ionic synaptic feedback.
• Existing materials struggle to emulate the complex functions of biological sensory systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a hydrogel capable of emulating receptor nanochannel perception and synaptic ionic information processing.
• To create artificial sensory afferent nerves with life-like nanoscale conformal contact and agile multimodal sensing response.

Main Methods:

• A precisely tuned phase transition poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel was synthesized using a water molecule reservoir strategy.
• The hydrogel's properties were characterized for mechanical performance, ionic conductance, and heterogeneous structure.

Main Results:

• The PNIPAM hydrogel demonstrated excellent mechanical properties (∼2000% elongation) and robust adhesion.
• Highly sensitive strain (GFmax = 7.94) and temperature (TCRmax = -1.974%/°C) perception with rapid response times were achieved.
• Low energy consumption synaptic plasticity (42.2 fJ/spike) was demonstrated.

Conclusions:

• The developed hydrogel serves as a promising material for artificial sensory afferent nerves, bridging the gap between biological and artificial systems.
• A neuromorphic sensing-synaptic system was successfully constructed, showcasing real-time sensing, discrimination, and feedback capabilities.
• This advancement holds significant potential for applications in bioinspired robotics and advanced bioelectronics.