On August 6, Science published a team perspective article on "Bioinspired nanofluidic iontronics" by Hou Xu, a member of the International Society of Bionic Engineering and a double professor at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and the School of Physical Sciences and Technology of Xiamen University.
It is understood that Professor Hou Xu has been engaged in the research of bionic liquid gating technology and bionic nano-flow ionology for more than 10 years, and has published 2 international academic works so far, and 55 related papers have been published in high-level academic journals such as Nature, Science, and National Science Review as the first / corresponding author. Professor Hou Xu graduated from the National Center for Nanoscience and later went to Harvard University from 2012 to 2015 to do postdoctoral research with Professor Joanna Aizenberg, one of the pioneers of biomimetic inorganic materials. After returning to China, he joined Xiamen University in 2016 as the chief researcher of the Bionic Intelligent Multi-scale Pore/Channel Group of Xiamen University, and a professor of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and the School of Physical Science and Technology of Xiamen University, and his current main research directions are bionic and intelligent multi-scale hole/channel systems, micro/nano fluids, energy saving and nano/micro manufacturing for biomedical applications.
Figure | Hou Xu, Dual-appointment Professor, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and School of Physical Science and Technology, Xiamen University (Source: Hou Xu Research Group Homepage)
In the article published this time, Hou Xu's team introduced the development of nanoflow ionology in recent years, and proposed that biomimetic science will become a new trend in the development of nanoflow ionology, as well as the application prospects of biomimetic nanoflow ionology in artificial intelligence, brain-computer interface, human-machine enhancement and other aspects.
By imitating the processing mechanism of the human brain, building a machine that can work efficiently and energy-saving like the human brain has always been one of the important exploration directions for researchers, including artificial intelligence, brain-computer interface and other technologies to imitate the human brain. However, the transmission of signals in the computer is completed by the movement of electrons and holes, and the carriers of biological signals in organisms are various ions, because the computer and the carriers of signal conversion and transmission in the human brain are different, and the computer has not been able to better simulate the activity of the human brain.
The emergence of biological nanopores has realized the organic combination of ion transmission and conductivity performance, and has become the most potential signal transmission and translation medium between electronic devices and organisms, which can be said to have established a bridge between biological brains and artificial brains. In biological systems, many physiological processes occur from the ion transport behavior in biological nanoacores.
In order to further explore the mechanism of biological signal transmission, nanofluidics, the discipline of studying and applying the properties of material transport at the nanoscale (the size of one or more dimensions is less than 100 nm), has gradually developed into one of the hot fields of scientific research. With the help of nanofluidic technology and nanoflow devices, it has also become a reality to simulate and realize the phenomenon of ion transport in life activities.
The article mentions, "A range of physiological processes can be explained by mimicking the transport of ions through nanoscale biological channels through nanoscale fluids." For example, Robin et al. proposed that in a one-dimensional (1D) nano-limiting space, the asymmetrical design of geometry and inner surface charge distribution can reproduce diode-like ion rectification characteristics in fluids; two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials such as graphene and boron nitride limit the freedom of translation during ion transport, resulting in a greater ion memory effect, providing a new direction for researchers to explore nanoflow ionology in depth, based on 2D nanochannel devices. Can be used to generate circuits similar to the electrical pulse sequences generated by biological neurons.
It is precisely because of this nature that Hou Xu's team believes that nano-flow ionology will further promote the realization of artificial intelligence, brain-computer interface, human-machine enhancement and other technologies, and people seem to be one step closer to "brain-like".
The article mentioned that due to the simultaneous signal compatible with neurons and the working medium compatible with the physiological aqueous environment, nanoflow ion devices may be the development direction of the two-way connection and interoperability of the brain and the computer, and the theoretical work of Robin et al. should help the development of wearable / implantable brain-computer interfaces, neuronal computer interfaces, etc.