Mimicking efferent nerves using a graphdiyne-based artificial synapse with multiple ion diffusion dynamics

Jialiang Xu,Haiyang Yu,Zhipeng Xu,Jiangdong Gong,Rongchao Shi,Wentao Xu,Chao Liu,Yao Ni,Huanhuan Wei,Lin Sun

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21319-9

Abstract

A graphdiyne-based artificial synapse (GAS), exhibiting intrinsic short-term plasticity, has been proposed to mimic biological signal transmission behavior. The impulse response of the GAS has been reduced to several millivolts with competitive femtowatt-level consumption, exceeding the biological level by orders of magnitude. Most importantly, the GAS is capable of parallelly processing signals transmitted from multiple pre-neurons and therefore realizing dynamic logic and spatiotemporal rules. It is also found that the GAS is thermally stable (at 353 K) and environmentally stable (in a relative humidity up to 35%). Our artificial efferent nerve, connecting the GAS with artificial muscles, has been demonstrated to complete the information integration of pre-neurons and the information output of motor neurons, which is advantageous for coalescing multiple sensory feedbacks and reacting to events. Our synaptic element has potential applications in bioinspired peripheral nervous systems of soft electronics, neurorobotics, and biohybrid systems of brain–computer interfaces.

Highlights

A graphdiyne-based artificial synapse (GAS), exhibiting intrinsic short-term plasticity, has been proposed to mimic biological signal transmission behavior
The relatively low diffusion barrier for ions in GDY contributes to its surface adsorption and interlayer insertion[55,56,57]. These intriguing ion shuttle characteristics inspire a new idea of constructing GDY-based artificial synapses (GASs) for mimicking synaptic cleft information transmission, which is promising for plasticity-mediated signal processing and transmission in biohybrid systems and artificial sensorimotor systems
Benefiting from the special working mechanism of ion migration and good electron transport properties, the GAS exhibits essential short-term synaptic behavior, which is conducive to its application in intelligent mechanotransduction systems and biohybrid systems

Summary

Introduction

A graphdiyne-based artificial synapse (GAS), exhibiting intrinsic short-term plasticity, has been proposed to mimic biological signal transmission behavior. The relatively low diffusion barrier for ions in GDY contributes to its surface adsorption and interlayer insertion[55,56,57] These intriguing ion shuttle characteristics inspire a new idea of constructing GDY-based artificial synapses (GASs) for mimicking synaptic cleft information transmission, which is promising for plasticity-mediated signal processing and transmission in biohybrid systems and artificial sensorimotor systems. Inspired by biological motor neurons, an integrated ionic artificial efferent nerve can be constructed to mimic the real-time processing and manipulation of signals. For the first time, a junction-type GAS is proposed by coupling a GDY film with solid-state electrolytes to emulate multiple short-term plasticity such as postsynaptic current, paired-pulse facilitation (PPF), and dynamic filtering, with outstanding pulse responsiveness and femtowatt-level energy consumption. Attempts to exploit the shortterm plasticity of GDY in a bioinspired analogous efferent nerve demonstrate real-time information integration, parallel processing capabilities, and signal transduction and actuation and pave the way for future bioinspired ionotronic sensorimotor systems

Methods

Results

Conclusion