Biosynaptic devices based on chicken egg albumen:graphene quantum dot nanocomposites

Abstract

Biosynaptic devices based on chicken egg albumen (ceA):graphene quantum dot (GQD) hybrid nanocomposites were fabricated to achieve stable synaptic behaviors. current-voltage (i-V) curves for the biosynaptic devices under consecutive negative and positive voltage sweeps showed clockwise pinched hysteresis, which is a critical feature of a biological synapse. The effect of the GQD concentration in the ceA layer on the device performance was studied. the retention time of the biosynaptic devices was relatively constant, maintaining a value above 10 4 s under ambient conditions. the carrier transport mechanisms of the biosynaptic devices were described and analyzed on the basis of the slopes of the I-V curves and their fittings.Due to the limitation on the speed of data transfer between the memory and the central processing unit, neuromorphic computing is faced with a bottleneck when the von Neumann computing architecture is used 1,2 . The use of nanoscale integrated circuitry based on a biomimetic brain to operate a neuromorphic system is an emerging research field because such platforms offer high-speed processing and improved energy efficiency. These demands have prompted the development of two-terminal memristors as promising candidates for artificial synapses because they can emulate synaptic plasticity with low power consumption. Many two-terminal synaptic devices are required, for reduced production cost, to mimic the complex human brain 2-6 .Nowadays, various oxide-based materials have been reported as components for resistive switching devices. The resistive switching mechanism of oxide-based devices is observed in the formation and the rupture of conducting filaments in the dielectric due to the application of an electrical pulse 7-10 . In addition, the memristors fabricated with organic materials are based on the resistive switching mechanism. The synaptic characteristics of memristors fabricated using organic/inorganic hybrid nanocomposites have been intensively investigated because such devices offer the advantages of simple fabrication, low cost, high flexibility, and low power consumption. When synaptic devices are fabricated utilizing inorganic/organic nanocomposites, matrix materials with charge-storage capability are typically deposited by using a spin-coating method [11][12][13][14] .Recently, a variety of emerging materials have been introduced to implement artificial neurons and artificial synapses 15,16 . Among the various biomaterials, chicken egg albumen (CEA) has been extensively used for potential applications in memristive devices, transistors, and synaptic devices 17-21 . CEA has recently been considered as a novel candidate owing to its promising applications in devices with human-friendly properties and in next-generation devices. The proteins in albumen will denature when a large amount of heat energy is applied in the devices. The denaturation of the proteins in CEA reduces the probability of oxygen scattering and changes the paths of oxygen diffusion, resulting in an increase in the p...

Tunable Multilevel Data Storage Bioresistive Random Access Memory Device Based on Egg Albumen and Carbon Nanotubes

“…Wang controlled the current switching ratio of Al/graphene oxide (GO)/EA/GO/ITO devices using varying concentrations of GO [ 18 ]. Other studies have demonstrated that RRAMs made from egg proteins are water soluble [ 19 ], can successfully simulate the memory behaviour of biological synapses [ 20 , 21 , 22 ], can be flexibly transferred to many unconventional substrates [ 23 ], and can realize the full memory logic block of the non-gate, or-gate, and and-gate [ 24 ]. Egg proteins can also be made into gate dielectric layers of organic field effect transistors and other transistors [ 25 , 26 ].…”

Recent Progress of Protein‐Based Data Storage and Neuromorphic Devices

“…An artificial synapse device based on chicken EA, graphene QD nanocomposites, was reported recently. [ 155 ] The conductance gradually decreased in consecutive positive and negative voltage sweeping, indicative of the ability to mimic synaptic plasticity. However, the conductance can't be modulated to a higher level according to the experiment results, which would limit its emulation of PPF.…”

Soft Biomaterials Based Flexible Artificial Synapse for Neuromorphic Computing

“…Egg albumen has been employed to develop memristor devices due to its easy extraction, high transparency, easy processing, low cost, and excellent dielectric properties. [18][19][20][21][22][23] Wherein, melanin/glycerin, [22] Au@SiO 2 core-shell nanoparticles, [20] graphene quantum dots, [21] and H 2 O 2 [23] were used to modify the egg albumen to obtain better resistive switching performances. Meanwhile, Other protein-based materials were also employed by delicately controlling the dynamics of defects, [24] functional groups, [25] and metallic atoms [26,27] to induce gradual conductance changes.…”