Transporting an ionic-liquid/water mixture in a conical nanochannel: a nanofluidic memristor

Abstract

Synthetic conical nanochannels have gained attention for their ion rectification behavior, which can be used to mimic the functionalities of biological ion channels. Employing these nanochannels and inspired by biological synaptic dynamics, we herein demonstrate a new nanofluidic device as a memristor, the ion transport conductance of which depends on the history of its ion flow. The nanofluidic memristors show excellent repeatability, high ON/OFF ratios, and sufficiently long retention times, which are highly desirable for logic control and neuromorphic engineering applications in nanofluidic systems as well as for fundamental transport studies of ionic liquids on a nanoscale.