An Iontronic Multiplexer Based on Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Multiterminal Organic Electrochemical Transistors

The seamless integration of electronics with biology requires new bio-inspired approaches that, analogously to nature, rely on the presence of electrolytes for signal multiplexing. On the contrary, conventional multiplexing schemes mostly rely on electronic carriers and require peripheral circuitry for their implementation, which imposes severe limitations toward their adoption in bio-applications. Here, a bio-inspired iontronic multiplexer based on spatiotemporal dynamics of organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs), with an electrolyte as the shared medium of communication, is shown. The iontronic system discriminates locally random-access events with no need of peripheral circuitry or address assignment, thus deceasing significantly the integration complexity. The form factors of OECTs that allow for intimate biointerfacing as well as the electrochemical nature of the communication medium, open new avenues for unconventional multiplexing in the emerging fields of bioelectronics, wearables, and neuromorphic computing or sensing.