Soft and ion-conducting hydrogel artificial tongue for astringency perception

Abstract

Artificial tongues have been receiving increasing attention for the perception of five basic tastes. However, it is still challenging to fully mimic human tongue-like performance for tastes such as astringency. Mimicking the mechanism of astringency perception on the human tongue, we use a saliva-like chemiresistive ionic hydrogel anchored to a flexible substrate as a soft artificial tongue. When exposed to astringent compounds, hydrophobic aggregates form inside the microporous network and transform it into a micro/nanoporous structure with enhanced ionic conductivity. This unique human tongue-like performance enables tannic acid to be detected over a wide range (0.0005 to 1 wt %) with high sensitivity (0.292 wt %^-1) and fast response time (~10 s). As a proof of concept, our sensor can detect the degree of astringency in beverages and fruits using a simple wipe-and-detection method, making a powerful platform for future applications involving humanoid robots and taste monitoring devices.