Tag Archives: polyelectrolyte-confined fluidic memristor (PFM)

Fluidic memristor with neuromorphic (brainlike) functions

I think this is the first time I’ve had occasion to feature a fluidic memristor. From a January 13, 2023 news item on Nahowerk, Note: Links have been removed,

Neuromorphic devices have attracted increasing attention because of their potential applications in neuromorphic [brainlike] computing, intelligence sensing, brain-machine interfaces and neuroprosthetics. However, most of the neuromorphic functions realized are based on the mimic of electric pulses with solid state devices. Mimicking the functions of chemical synapses, especially neurotransmitter-related functions, is still a challenge in this research area.

In a study published in Science (“Neuromorphic functions with a polyelectrolyte-confined fluidic memristor”), the research group led by Prof. YU Ping and MAO Lanqun from the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a polyelectrolyte-confined fluidic memristor (PFM), which could emulate diverse electric pulse with ultralow energy consumption. Moreover, benefitting from the fluidic nature of PFM, chemical-regulated electric pulses and chemical-electric signal transduction could also be emulated.

A January 12, 2023 Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) press release, which originated the news item, offers more technical detail,

The researchers first fabricated the polyelectrolyte-confined fluidic channel by surface-initiated atomic transfer polymerization. By systematically studying the current-voltage relationship, they found that the fabricated fluidic channel well satisfied the nature memristor, defined as PFM. The origin of the ion memory was originated from the relatively slow diffusion dynamics of anions into and out of the polyelectrolyte brushes.  

The PFM could well emulate the short-term plasticity patterns (STP), including paired-pulse facilitation and paired-pulse depression. These functions can be operated at the voltage and energy consumption as low as those biological systems, suggesting the potential application in bioinspired sensorimotor implementation, intelligent sensing and neuroprosthetics.  

The PFM could also emulate the chemical-regulated STP electric pulses. Based on the interaction between polyelectrolyte and counterions, the retention time could be regulated in different electrolyte.

More importantly, in a physiological electrolyte (i.e., phosphate-buffered saline solution, pH7.4), the PFM could emulate the regulation of memory by adenosine triphosphate (ATP), demonstrating the possibility to regulate the synaptic plasticity by neurotransmitter.  More importantly, based on the interaction between polyelectrolytes and counterions, the chemical-electric signal transduction was accomplished with the PFM, which is a key step towards the fabrication of artificial chemical synapses.

With structural emulation to ion channels, PFM features versatility and easily interfaces with biological systems, paving a way to building neuromorphic devices with advanced functions by introducing rich chemical designs. This study provides a new way to interface the chemistry with neuromorphic device. 

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Neuromorphic functions with a polyelectrolyte-confined fluidic memristor by Tianyi Xiong, Changwei Li, Xiulan He, Boyang Xie, Jianwei Zong, Yanan Jiang, Wenjie Ma, Fei Wu, Junjie Fei, Ping Yu, and Lanqun Mao. Science 12 Jan 2023 Vol 379, Issue 6628 pp. 156-161 DOI: 10.1126/science.adc9150

This paper is behind a paywall.