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Updated: Jan 11, 2026

Assembly and Characterization of Biomolecular Memristors Consisting of Ion Channel-doped Lipid Membranes
Published on: March 9, 2019
A general molecular-scale dynamic memristor model based on non-steady-state charge transport kinetics and its
Yueqi Chen1,2, Xuan Ji1,2, Xi Yu1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for Intelligent Sensing, Key Laboratory of Organic Integrated Circuit, Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
None:
Non-steady-state molecular-scale dynamics, where fast electron transport couples with slow chemical state evolution, underpins the complex behaviors of molecular memristors, yet a general model linking these dynamics to neuromorphic computing remains elusive. We introduce a dynamic memristor model that integrates Landauer and Marcus electron transport theories with the kinetics of slow processes, such as proton/ion migration or conformational changes. This framework reproduces experimental conductance hysteresis and emulates synaptic functions such as short-term plasticity and spike-timing-dependent plasticity. By incorporating the model into a reservoir computing architecture, we show that computational performance optimizes when input frequency and bias mapping range align with the molecular system's intrinsic kinetics. This chemistry-centric, bottom-up approach provides a theoretical foundation for molecular-scale neuromorphic computing, demonstrating how non-steady-state molecular-scale dynamics can drive information processing in the post-Moore era.
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