Neuro-Actuating Photonic Skin Enabled by Ion-Gel Transistor with Thermo-Adaptive Block Copolymer

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) 2024-11, p.e2413818
• Main Authors: Kim, Gwanho, Lee, Seokyeong, Yoon, Jungwon, Lee, Kyuho, Kim, Woojoong, Kim, Jiwon, Jang, Jihye, Ha, Jebong, Kim, Taebin, Zhao, Kaiying, Kim, HoYeon, Lee, Seonju, Oh, Ji Hye, Kim, Junsu, Hassan, Tufail, Cho, Soo Yeong, Ryu, Du Yeol, Koo, Chong Min, Park, Chanho, Park, Cheolmin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202413818

Despite significant progress in developing artificial synapses to emulate the human nervous system for bio-signal transmission, synapses with thermo-adaptive coloration and soft actuators driven by temperature change have seldom been reported. Herein, a photonic neuro-actuating synaptic skin is presented enabling thermoresponsive synaptic signal transmission, color variation, and actuation. First, a thermoresponsive display synapse is developed based on a 3-terminal ion-gel transistor with a poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly (styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) semiconducting channel mixed with 2D titanium carbide (Ti C T ) MXene and a thermo-adaptive 1D block copolymer (BCP) photonic crystal (PC) gate insulator. Temperature-dependent synaptic behavior is successfully observed in the ion-gel transistor with the corresponding structural colors, leading to a thermo-adaptive display synapse. The 3 × 3 arrays of thermo-adaptive display synapses with Joule heaters show that each pixel is controlled by the thermoresponsive structural color and synaptic output. The synaptic output current from the MXene ion-gel transistor can be converted and amplified to a voltage signal, which powers a soft actuator connected to the ion-gel display synapse and triggers temperature-dependent actuation related to the thermoresponsive synaptic performance. This study showcases a thermo-adaptive photonic neuro-actuating artificial skin that emulates muscle-combined neuronal human skin with visualization capability.