Citation: Xiangyuan Mei, Yu Xiao, Chaoyi Yan, Lingxuan Jia, Gang Song, Runjie Zhang, Weijie Wang, Fengting Lv, Xiaojuan Dai, Liyao Liu, Ye Zou, Shu Wang, Chong-an Di, Daoben Zhu, Fengjiao Zhang. Ion-equilibrated OECT inverters for neural-compatible ring oscillators[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(3): 112042. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.112042 shu

Ion-equilibrated OECT inverters for neural-compatible ring oscillators

Xiangyuan Mei ^{a, b} ,
Yu Xiao ^{b, c} ,
Chaoyi Yan ^b ,
Lingxuan Jia ^a ,
Gang Song ^a ,
Runjie Zhang ^b ,
Weijie Wang ^a ,
Fengting Lv ^a ,
Xiaojuan Dai ^a ,
Liyao Liu ^a ,
Ye Zou ^a ,
Shu Wang ^a ,
Chong-an Di ^{a, *,} ,
Daoben Zhu ^a ,
Fengjiao Zhang ^{b, c, *,}

a.
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
b.
School of Chemical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China
c.
Binzhou Institute of Technology, Binzhou 256606, China

dicha@iccas.ac.cn

fjiaozhang@ucas.ac.cn

Received Date: 5 August 2025
Revised Date: 24 October 2025
Accepted Date: 30 October 2025
Available Online: 30 October 2025

Figures(5)

Organic electrochemical transistor (OECT)-based inverters hold great promise for neural-machine interfaces due to their low operating voltage and compatibility with aqueous environments. However, unbalanced p-/n-channel characteristics hinder the inverter's voltage gain and fast switching. Here, a rational inverter design is presented, leveraging ion concentration to equilibrate p-n channel conductivity and kinetic doping in the OECT inverter, achieving an extremely high gain value of over 370 V/V under optimized driving conditions. Furthermore, a 3-stage ring oscillator constructed from these ion-equilibrated OECT inverters exhibits a rapid response time (stage delay < 0.6 ms) and a broad frequency response exceeding 300 Hz, matching the mechanoreceptor signals in human skin. The biocompatible output displays a sublinear reaction to static pressure pulses, indicating successful tactile recognition in live neurons. This work presents a practical strategy for constructing neural-compatible artificial logics through ion-concentration engineering, providing a platform for seamless neural-machine integration.
- Organic electrochemical transistors,
- Complementary inverter,
- Ring oscillator,
- Ion concentration,
- Neural transconductance
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沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院沈阳 110142