Ionic transistor using ion exchange membranes

• Published in: Lab on a chip Vol. 22; no. 14; pp. 277 - 2713
• Main Authors: Cheng, Chaojun, Rashed, Mohamed Z, Fridman, Gene Y
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 12.07.2022
• Subjects: Anion exchanging; Ion Exchange; Ions; Membranes; Saline Solution; Semiconductor devices; Signal processing; Sodium chloride; Transistors; Transistors, Electronic
• ISSN: 1473-0197; 1473-0189; 1473-0189
• DOI: 10.1039/d2lc00312k

Ionic transistors can be used to modulate ionic current in a way that is analogous to their electronic counterparts. An ionic transistor can reversibly change its ionic conduction to control ionic current by injecting electrical charges. To facilitate its applications in biomedical devices ( e.g. , controlled drug delivery, rectification of ionic current, and signal processing), an ionic transistor should maintain high performance of ionic current control within physiological solutions ( e.g. , 0.9% NaCl) for long durations. Here, we introduce an ionic transistor using cation and anion exchange membranes (CEM and AEM). It could impose a 10× impedance change in a channel filled with 0.9% NaCl solution and we observed a stable modulation of ionic current throughout a test of 1000 cycles of on/off switching of the ionic transistor. This ionic transistor uses ion exchange membranes to deplete and enrich ions in a channel to induce an impedance change modulating an ionic current passing through it. It can work with physiological salt concentrations for long durations.