Triboelectric potential tuned oxide artificial tactile sensory platform with ultra-low power consumption

Abstract

Sophistiated cognitive platform calls for multifunctional intelligent sensory devices with ultra-low power consumption. Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) provides an energy-efficient strategy to gate neuromorphic transistor with multiple sensing applications. To this end, a self-powered artificial tactile sensory neuron is proposed. Fish gelatin (GEL) and carboxylated-chitosan (CCs) are cross-linked to gate indium tin oxide (ITO) neuromorphic transistor. Thanks to the extremely strong protonic/electronic interfacial coupling at GEL-CCs based hydrogel/channel interface, good electrical performances are obtained at low voltage of only ∼0.8 V. The device demonstrates fundamental synaptic behaviors. Moreover, it exhibits ultra-low energy consumption of only ∼31.1 aJ for a single synaptic response with a good sensitivity of ∼4.65 dB. TENG is fabricated using polydimethylsiloxane elastomer and polytetrafluoroethylene, demonstrating good sensitivity of ∼8.0 V/kPa and good stabilities under pressure of 400 Pa. Thus, a tactile sensory platform is built with co-substrate configuration, integrating TENG and ITO neuromorphic transistor. Image edge detection is conceptually demonstrated by adopting Sobel algorithm. Furthermore, a wearable arterial pulse monitor is proposed based on the haptic sensory platform. The present work provides a candidate solution for realizing environment-friendly, energy-saving neuromorphic system and tactile perception system, demonstrating potentials in portable intelligent platform, prosthetics and human-machine interface.