Soft Hydrogel-based Ion Conducting Artificial Tongue for Astringency Perception
발표자
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초록
내용
Recently, artificial tongues have been received intensive attention in industrial and medical fields. Here, we present flexible and ion-conductive hydrogel based artificial tongue for the detection of astringency. The hydrogel consists of polyacrylamide hydrogel, mucin protein and lithium chloride as analogues of salivary layer covering human tongue. Upon the exposure to the astringent tastants, astringency could be perceived thorough the morphological changes of the porous PAAm matrix. The microporous PAAm matrix is transformed into hierarchical micro/nanoporous structures due to the formation of hydrophobic mucin-tannin complexes, resulting in frictionless ion flow inside the hydrogel matrix. The sensor exhibits wide sensing range, high sensitivity within 10 s and high selectivity from other basic tastants. Finally, the artificial tongue can distinguish the degree of astringency in wines, tea, and fruits using a simple wipe-and-detection method.