Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore, 117575, Singapore.
School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, Biomedical Sciences Building, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK.
Adv Mater. 2018 Sep;30(39):e1802290. doi: 10.1002/adma.201802290. Epub 2018 Aug 12.
Energy self-sufficiency is an inspirational design feature of biological systems that fulfills sensory functions. Plants such as the "touch-me-not" and "Venus flytrap" not only sustain life by photosynthesis, but also execute specialized sensory responses to touch. Photosynthesis enables these organisms to sustainably harvest and expend energy, powering their sensory abilities. Photosynthesis therefore provides a promising model for self-powered sensory devices like electronic skins (e-skins). While the natural sensory abilities of human skin have been emulated in man-made materials for advanced prosthetics and soft-robotics, no previous e-skin has incorporated phototransduction and photosensory functions that could extend the sensory abilities of human skin. A proof-of-concept bioelectronic device integrated with natural photosynthetic pigment-proteins is presented that shows the ability to sense not only touch stimuli (down to 3000 Pa), but also low-intensity ultraviolet radiation (down to 0.01 mW cm ) and generate an electrical power of ≈260 nW cm . The scalability of this device is demonstrated through the fabrication of flexible, multipixel, bioelectronic sensors capable of touch registration and tracking. The polysensory abilities, energy self-sufficiency, and additional nanopower generation exhibited by this bioelectronic system make it particularly promising for applications like smart e-skins and wearable sensors, where the photogenerated power can enable remote data transmission.
能量自给是生物系统的一个激励设计特征，它能实现传感功能。像“含羞草”和“捕蝇草”这样的植物，不仅通过光合作用维持生命，还能对触摸做出专门的感应反应。光合作用使这些生物能够可持续地收获和消耗能量，为其感应能力提供动力。因此，光合作用为自供电感应装置（如电子皮肤）提供了一个有前景的模型。虽然人类皮肤的自然感应能力已在人造材料中得到模拟，用于先进的假肢和软机器人，但以前没有任何电子皮肤都结合了光转换和感光功能，可以扩展人类皮肤的感应能力。本文提出了一种集成天然光合色素蛋白的生物电子设备，证明了它不仅能够感应触摸刺激（低至 3000 Pa），还能够感应低强度的紫外辐射（低至 0.01 mW cm ）并产生约 260 nW cm 的电功率。通过制造灵活的、多像素的生物电子传感器，展示了该设备的可扩展性，这些传感器能够进行触摸登记和跟踪。这种生物电子系统展示出的多感官能力、能量自给和额外的纳功率产生使其在智能电子皮肤和可穿戴传感器等应用中特别有前景，光电产生的功率可以实现远程数据传输。
