The role of polyelectrolyte brushes in tunable synaptic devices

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Diepenbroek, Esli, Smook, Leon A., de Beer, Sissi
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Diepenbroek, Esli
Smook, Leon A.
de Beer, Sissi
author_facet Diepenbroek, Esli
Smook, Leon A.
de Beer, Sissi
contents With the ever-increasing digitization of society, the development of materials with low-power memory storage -similar to synapses- is becoming more relevant. The field of iontronic artificial synapses has gained traction, in particular with polymers as the memory-active material which allows for additional bio-compatibility, flexibility and tunability. Polyelectrolyte brushes are an example of stimulus-responsive materials that can be used in iontronic devices. However, the complexity of current neuromorphic devices does not allow us to isolate and understand the role of polyelectrolyte brushes in their synaptic response. In this paper, we show that polyelectrolyte brushes are capable of synaptic behavior in the most simple of electrochemical cell designs. Furthermore, by combining theory and experimental work, we shed light on the role of brushes in this synaptic behavior and their dynamic stimuli-responsiveness to polarity changes for different salt concentrations. The obtained trends and interpretations of the nonlinear potential-current response, paired-pulse experiments, and accumulative learning lay the foundation for designing and developing polymer brush-based neuromorphic devices.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_17397
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The role of polyelectrolyte brushes in tunable synaptic devices
Diepenbroek, Esli
Smook, Leon A.
de Beer, Sissi
Soft Condensed Matter
With the ever-increasing digitization of society, the development of materials with low-power memory storage -similar to synapses- is becoming more relevant. The field of iontronic artificial synapses has gained traction, in particular with polymers as the memory-active material which allows for additional bio-compatibility, flexibility and tunability. Polyelectrolyte brushes are an example of stimulus-responsive materials that can be used in iontronic devices. However, the complexity of current neuromorphic devices does not allow us to isolate and understand the role of polyelectrolyte brushes in their synaptic response. In this paper, we show that polyelectrolyte brushes are capable of synaptic behavior in the most simple of electrochemical cell designs. Furthermore, by combining theory and experimental work, we shed light on the role of brushes in this synaptic behavior and their dynamic stimuli-responsiveness to polarity changes for different salt concentrations. The obtained trends and interpretations of the nonlinear potential-current response, paired-pulse experiments, and accumulative learning lay the foundation for designing and developing polymer brush-based neuromorphic devices.
title The role of polyelectrolyte brushes in tunable synaptic devices
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.17397