The basic units in our brain are neurons, and each neuron has more than 1,000 synapse connections. Synapse is the basic structure for information transfer in an ever-changing manner, and short-term plasticity allows synapses to perform critical computational functions in neural circuits. Therefore, the major challenge for the hardware implementation of neuromorphic computation is to develop artificial synapse network. Here in-plane lateral-coupled oxide-based artificial synapse network coupled by proton neurotransmitters are selfassembled on glass substrates at room-temperature. A strong lateral modulation is observed due to the proton-related electrical-double-layer effect. Short-term plasticity behaviours, including paired-pulse facilitation, dynamic filtering and spatiotemporally correlated signal processing are mimicked. Such laterally coupled oxide-based protonic/electronic hybrid artificial synapse network proposed here is interesting for building future neuromorphic systems.

N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-mediated ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of N-substituted N-carboxylanhydride ((N)R-NCA) yields cyclic poly(alpha-peptoid)s with controlled molecular weights (M(n) = 3-30 kg mol(-1)) and narrow molecular weight distributions (PDI = 1.04-1.12). The reactions exhibit characteristics of a living polymerization with minimal chain transfer. This enables the facile synthesis of cyclic diblock copoly(alpha-peptoid)s through sequential monomer addition. The cyclic polymer architectures were verified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and intrinsic viscosity measurements. Mark-Houwink-Sakurada plot analyses revealed that cyclic poly(alpha-peptoid)s prepared from NHC-mediated polymerizations exhibit lower intrinsic viscosities than their linear analogues prepared from primary amine-initiated polymerizations. The ratio of their intrinsic viscosities is consistent with the former being mostly cyclic.

Polyactide (PLA) was blended with an ethylene/n-butyl acrylate/glycidyl methacrylate (EBA-GMA) terpolymer and a zinc ionomer of ethylene/methacrylic acid (EMAA-Zn) copolymer. The phase morphology of the resulting ternary blends and its relationship with impact behaviors were studied systematically. Dynamic vulcanization of EBA-GMA in the presence of EMAA-Zn was investigated by torque rheology, and its cross-link level was evaluated by dynamic mechanical analysis. Reactive compatibilization between PLA and EBA-GMA was studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The dispersed domains in the ternary blends displayed a “salami”-like phase structure, in which the EMAA-Zn phase evolved from occluded subinclusions into continuous phase with decrease in the EBA-GMA/EMAA-Zn ratio. An optimum range of particle sizes of the dispersed domains for high impact toughness was identified. Also, the micromechanical deformation process of these ternary blends was also investigated by observation of the impact-fractured surfaces using the electron microscope. It was suggested that the low cavitation resistance of dispersed particles in conjunction with suitable interfacial adhesion was responsible for the optimum impact toughness observed.

N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-mediated polymerizations of N-butyl N-carboxyanhydride (Bu-NCA) to produce cyclic poly(N-butyl glycine)s (c-NHC-PNBGs) have been investigated in various solvents with NHCs having differing steric and electronic properties. Control over the polymer molecular weight (MW) and polymerization rate is strongly dependent on the solvent and the NHC structure. Kinetic studies reveal that the propagating intermediates for the polymerization in low dielectric solvents (e.g., THF or toluene) maintain cyclic architectures with two chain ends in close contact through Coulombic interaction. The NHCs not only initiate the polymerization, but also mediate the chain propagation as intramolecular counterions. Side reactions are significantly suppressed in low dielectric solvents due to the reduced basicity and nucleophilicity of the negatively charged chain ends of the zwitterions, resulting in quasi-living polymerization behavior. By contrast, the two charged chain ends of the zwitterionic species are fully dissociated in high dielectric solvents. The chain propagation proceeds as in conventional anionic polymerizations, wherein side reactions (e.g., transamidation) compete with chain propagation, resulting in significantly diminished control over polymer MW. The cyclic zwitterionic propagating species can be converted into their linear polymeric analogues (l-NHC-PNBGs) by end-capping with electrophiles (e.g., acetyl chloride) or the NHC-free cyclic analogues (c-PNBGs) by treatment with NaN(TMS)(2), as evidenced by MALDI-TOF MS, NMR, and SEC analysis.