Self-Powered Light-Emitting Electrochemical Synapse for Artificial Tactile System With Perception, Memory, and Feedback

Biological nervous system is a complex multifunctional learning system. Our brain can receive, judge, and remember different signals from different sensory organs, such as hearing, touch, taste, and so on. Constructing such an artificial perceptual memory system is critical for biomimetic and real-time neuromorphic computing applications. Here, an artificial tactile perception system with the functions of perception, memory, and feedback is realized by utilizing a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with a polymer light-emitting electrochemical cell (PLEC). The TENG functions as a tactile receptor to convert pressure signals into electrical signals, and the PLEC functions as a light-emitting electrochemical artificial synapse (LEEAS) with the dual output of photoelectric signal, in which the optical signals are used to reflect the strength of the pressure and the electrical signals are used to achieve different memory levels. Interestingly, the artificial tactile system successfully simulates the stress response and pain memory of organisms to different levels of stress signals, which is quite similar to the actual biological perception system and is expected to build artificial skin.