Khan Tamanna, McAfee Terry, Ferron Thomas J, Alotaibi Awwad, Collins Brian A
Department of Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA.
Department of Physics, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA.
Adv Mater. 2025 Feb;37(5):e2406281. doi: 10.1002/adma.202406281. Epub 2024 Nov 19.
Superior properties in organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors (OMIECs) over inorganic counterparts have inspired intense interest in biosensing, soft-robotics, neuromorphic computing, and smart medicine. However, slow ion transport relative to charge transport in these materials is a limiting factor. Here, it is demonstrated that hydrophilic molecules local to an interfacial OMIEC nanochannel can accelerate ion transport with ion mobilities surpassing electrophoretic transport by more than an order of magnitude. Furthermore, ion access to this interfacial channel can be gated through local surface energy. This mechanism is applied in a novel sensing device, which electronically detects and characterizes chemical reaction dynamics local to the buried channel. The ability to enhance ion transport at the nanoscale in OMIECs as well as govern ion transport through local chemical signaling enables new functionalities for printable, stretchable, and biocompatible mixed conduction devices.
有机混合离子-电子导体（OMIECs）相较于无机材料具有卓越性能，这激发了人们对生物传感、软体机器人技术、神经形态计算和智能医学的浓厚兴趣。然而，这些材料中离子传输相对于电荷传输较慢是一个限制因素。在此，研究表明，界面OMIEC纳米通道中的亲水分子可加速离子传输，其离子迁移率超过电泳传输一个多数量级。此外，离子进入该界面通道可通过局部表面能进行门控。这种机制应用于一种新型传感装置，该装置可对埋入通道局部的化学反应动力学进行电子检测和表征。在OMIECs中增强纳米级离子传输以及通过局部化学信号控制离子传输的能力，为可印刷、可拉伸且生物相容的混合传导装置带来了新功能。
