As biological signals are mainly based on ion transport, the differences in signal carriers have become a major issue for the intimate communication between electrical devices and biological areas. In this respect, an ionic device which can directly interpret ionic signals from biological systems needs to be designed. Particularly, it is also required to amplify the ionic signals for effective signal processing, since the amount of ions acquired from biological systems is very small. Here, we report the signal amplification in ionic systems as well as sensing through the modified design of polyelectrolyte hydrogel-based ionic diodes. By designing an open-junction structure, ionic signals from the external environment can be directly transmitted to an ionic diode. Moreover, the minute ionic signals injected into the devices can also be amplified to a large amount of ions. The signal transduction mechanism of the ion-to-ion amplification is suggested and clearly verified by revealing the generation of breakdown ionic currents during an ion injection. Subsequently, various methods for enhancing the amplification are suggested.
Keywords: ionic circuit element; ionic diode; ionic signal amplification; polyelectrolyte gel.