Artificial Nanofluidic Iontronic Retina

Biological vision acquires external information through light-induced transmembrane ion transport, generating electrical impulses. While reproducing biological visual function is highly significant, mimicking the retina with dual photoreceptor and photosynaptic functions via light-modulated ion transport remains a challenge. Herein, we present a bioinspired light-regulated nanofluidic iontronic device that can mimic biological retina functionalities, realized through an engineered carbon nanotube and molybdenum disulfide (CNT/MoS ₂ ) heterostructure. This bioinspired device combines two key functionalities of retina—photoreceptor-like optical sensing and photosynaptic signal processing—with dynamically adjustable polarity-switching behavior, achieved via bias voltage–modulated transient photoresponse speeds. Both theoretical and experimental results prove that light-modulated ion transport originates from the heterointerface-induced asymmetric photovoltage generation across CNT/MoS ₂ nanotube. Furthermore, we demonstrate its implementation for both accurate orientation recognition and reliable fingerprint detection under varying incident light angles. The device's bidirectional photoresponsiveness highlights its unique advantages for adaptive visual simulation systems.