A nanofluidic oscillating neuron

Nanofluidics provide a transformative platform for creating neuron emulates, yet replicating their complex spiking dynamics remains challenging. Herein, we report a nanofluidic oscillating neuron (FON) which could emulate spiking-form encoding functions of neurons. This device showed neuromorphic oscillating ion conductance with a polyimidazolium-confined nanofluidic system in asymmetric solution environment. Similar with neuronal action potentials, the spiking originates from the anion/cation selectivity changes of polyimidazolium channels due to the dynamic interplay between the desorption/adsorption of $${{{{\rm{Fe}}}}({{{\rm{CN}}}})}_{6}^{3-}$$ and the corresponding change of electroosmotic flow. The FON could emulate neuronal electrical and chemical encoding with diverse and controllable spiking patterns. More importantly, the refractory-period-like threshold changes of neuron could also be successful accomplished. This study demonstrated the potential of nanofluidic iontronics by rationally controlling the ion dynamics for neuromorphic computing and biomimetic device with diverse functions. Nanofluidic hold promise for mimicking neural systems, yet replicating their complex spiking dynamics remains challenging. Here, authors developed a nanofluidic oscillating neuron (FON) that emulates spiking behaviors and encoding mechanisms of neurons, demonstrating programmable control over spiking patterns in response to both electrical and chemical stimuli.