Bioinspired Ionic Sensory Systems: The Successor of Electronics

Abstract

All biological systems, including animals and plants, communicate in a language of ions and small molecules, while the modern information infrastructures and technologies rely on a language of electrons. Although electronics and bioelectronics have made great progress in the past several decades, they still face the disadvantage of signal transformation when communicating with biology. To narrow the gap between biological systems and artificial‐intelligence systems, bioinspired ion‐transport‐based sensory systems should be developed as successor of electronics, since they can emulate biological functionality more directly and communicate with biology seamlessly. Herein, the essential principles of (accurate) ion transport are introduced, and the recent progress in the development of three elements of an ionic sensory system is reviewed: ionic sensors, ionic processors, and ionic interfaces. The current challenges and future developments of ion‐transport‐based sensory systems are also discussed.

A Nano‐Heterogeneous Membrane for Efficient Separation of Lithium from High Magnesium/Lithium Ratio Brine

“…[ 15,16 ] Given the close hydrated radius of Mg 2+ (4.3 Å) and Li + (3.8 Å) ions, the Li permeability through polymer membranes usually trade‐off with Li + /Mg 2+ selectivity. [ 5 ] Selective pass of ion mixtures have been rendered by nanofluidic devices made from 2D materials and crystalline porous frameworks, [ 17–19 ] which are limited by miniaturized sizes and high cost. Facile preparation of economic membranes for efficient Li extraction from high Mg 2+ /Li + ratio brine for urgent demand remains unmet.…”

A Marr's Three‐Level Analytical Framework for Neuromorphic Electronic Systems

“…In the last two sections, we have already seen examples of how advanced technologies enable electronic mimics of individual parts of the neural system with demonstrated simple computational functionalities. We do not intend to survey the neuromorphic hardware implementation again as this has been done in numerous reviews, just to name a few, at materials level, [ 48,661–722 ] at device level, [ 10,244,263,723–790 ] at more circuit level, or above. [ …”

Light-Driven Ion Transport in Nanofluidic Devices: Photochemical, Photoelectric, and Photothermal Effects

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