Highly reconfigurable neuron-mimicking conductive networks through nanophase structure engineering

Bionic electronics are designed to bridge the gap between biological realms and conventional electronics by imitating the mechanical performance and versatile functionalities of biological tissue. However, it remains a great challenge to replicate the high dynamics and reconfigurability of living tissues at the hardware level without compromising electrical performance, spatial resolutions, and structural integrity. This issue is mainly rooted in the inherent conflict between excellent electrical performance and dynamic properties, in which the former requires electrical active components to have an intimate electrical connection at the molecular level while the latter nevertheless necessitates weak and responsive intermolecular interaction. To address this problem, a novel methodology of reversible nanophase regulation is proposed, inspired by the well-known ion-specific effect discovered in biological systems. As an exemplary model, physically crosslinked conductive networks are prepared with conducting polymers and polyvinyl alcohol as building blocks. With the benefits of the dynamic response to specific ions, the conductive network can successfully integrate multiple, traditionally contradictory properties—combining outstanding electrical/mechanical performance with excellent reconfigurability features such as micro-patternability and erasability of conductive pathways, in-situ wet solderability with good spatial resolution, and closed-loop recyclability. At last, the methodology proposed here showed good generality and could be extended to other material systems, promising to inspire the design of novel reconfigurable bionic devices for the integration of biological tissue and electronics in a diverse range of applications including human-machine interactions, neural tissue engineering, and degradable bioelectronics.