Chemically regulated conical channel synapse for neuromorphic and sensing applications

Fluidic iontronics offer a unique capability for emulating the chemical processes found in neurons. We extract multiple distinct chemically regulated synaptic features from an experimentally accessible conical microfluidic channel carrying functionalized surface groups, using finite-element calculations of continuum transport equations. By modeling a Langmuir-type surface reaction on the channel wall, we couple fast voltage-induced volumetric salt accumulation with a long-term channel surface charge modulation by means of fast charging and slow discharging. These nonlinear charging dynamics emerge across several orders of magnitude of reaction rates and equilibria, and are understood through an analytic approximation rooted in first principles. We show how short- and long-term potentiation and depression, frequency-dependent plasticity, and chemical-electrical signal spike-timing dependence and coincidence detection (acting like a chemical-electrical AND logic gate), akin to the NMDA mechanism for Hebbian learning in biological synapses, can all be emulated. Published by the American Physical Society 2025