An Artificial Thermal Nociceptor Based on Xanthan Gum‐Gated Synaptic Transistors to Emulate Human Thermal Nociception

Abstract

Nociceptors are kinds of sensory neurons that send warning information to the central nervous system in response to noxious stimuli. Thermal nociception happens as the thermal stimulus exceeds 45 °C as this temperature is perceived to be potentially harmful. Simulating this function is of great significance to developing bioinspired electronic skins and humanoid robots, which thus creates more demands for electronic devices that can simulate thermal nociception. Herein, an artificial thermal nociceptor (ATN) is fabricated by integrating a temperature sensor and a synaptic transistor, which can simulate the thermal pain threshold of the human body and operates in a very similar way as the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1). For this ATN, the function of temperature sensing is realized by a graphite–polydimethylsiloxane (Gr–PDMS) composite temperature sensor, and the synaptic functions, as well as nociceptor features, are emulated through a synaptic transistor using xanthan gum polysaccharide electrolyte as gate dielectric, providing energy‐efficient building blocks for brain‐inspired computation systems. In a word, the ATN proposed can help to open a new avenue and provides more possibilities in the design of artificial sensory systems with the functions of temperature perception and thermal feedback.

Artificial Neuron Devices

“…Copyright 2020 American Chemical Society. (c–f) Reproduced with permission from ref . Copyright 2022, The Authors, published by Wiley.…”

“…Despite a number of studies about the fundamentals of biological nociceptors, artificial devices that mimic the biological functions of a thermal nociceptor are lacking. Li et al proposed an artificial thermal nociceptor by integrating the temperature sensor with a synaptic transistor on a platform (Figure d) . Graphite–polydimethylsiloxane composites are adopted as the temperature sensor due to its sensitivity and robustness.…”

“…Li et al proposed an artificial thermal nociceptor by integrating the temperature sensor with a synaptic transistor on a platform (Figure 16d). 455 Graphite−polydimethylsiloxane composites are adopted as the temperature sensor due to its sensitivity and robustness. As for the synaptic transistor, xanthan gum polysaccharide electrolyte is used as the gate for the first time, because it has excellent film-forming properties.…”

A reverse Schmitt trigger with an adjustable hysteresis window implemented by mesoporous silica electrolyte-gated transistors

“…When subjected to an electric field, ions within the electrolyte can migrate to the interface between the semiconductor and the electrolyte, forming a huge electricdouble-layer capacitance that effectively reduces the operating voltage of the transistor. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Proton-conducting electrolyte materials have been reported to exhibit exceptional dielectric properties in TFTs. 7,11,13,[20][21][22] Among them, ordered mesoporous silica is an ideal proton conducting material because of the abundant silica hydroxyl functional groups on its surface and pore wall, and is widely used in fuel cells.…”

Stretchable and neuromorphic transistors for pain perception and sensitization emulation

“…15–20 Researchers have simulated pain perception using ion-dielectric transistors, most of which consist of hard materials. 6,15,21–25 However, when the device is stuck to robots, electronic skin, or prostheses, functioning appropriately in sophisticated scenarios is necessary because deformations and stretching of skin and limbs frequently occur during the moving process. 16,26–30 Therefore, the preparation of stretchable bionic synaptic devices for pain sensing is of significance for many application scenarios of artificial intelligence devices, as well as manufacturing robots with “touch” and self-awareness of avoiding harm.…”