Cancers doi: 10.20517/iontronics.2026.004

Authors: Zhenzhen Wang,Yilin Zhang,Baozhen Yang,Wangwu Li,Haotian Zhu,Xiaohui Zeng,Sailin Liu

Hydrogel electrolytes, enabled by tunable polymer networks, mechanical robustness, and water confinement, provide a promising platform for stabilizing Zn metal anodes in aqueous zinc metal batteries. Progress can be broadly viewed through three coupled modules: microenvironment control to regulate water activity and Zn²⁺ solvation, bulk transport engineering to sustain selective Zn²⁺ delivery, and interfacial design to tune desolvation, nucleation, and growth. Our perspective is that the central challenge is not the independent optimization of these modules, but the rate mismatch that can emerge among them under practical conditions: suppressing water activity alone may not sustain Zn²⁺ supply, improving bulk transport alone may not resolve interfacial kinetic barriers, and interfacial stabilization alone may remain ineffective if local ion delivery is insufficient. As a result, the practical operating window is often governed by how well these three processes are temporally and spatially coordinated, especially at high current densities and areal capacities. Additionally, scalable fabrication, full-cell architectures that accommodate electrode asymmetry, and sealed-cell management of gas evolution and pressure are needed.

Cancers doi: 10.20517/iontronics.2026.002

Authors: Zeguang Du,Zhangao Wang,Shengyin Wang,Zerui Liu,Zhangcheng Li,Chong Hou

Stretchable light-emitting devices have emerged as a key pillar of modern human-machine interaction (HMI) and wearable technologies. Conventional electronic conductors face challenges in balancing mechanical fragility and optical transparency. In contrast, ionic conductors offer high optical transmittance (typically > 90%) and outstanding mechanical compliance. These properties provide a transformative paradigm for the next generation of intrinsically stretchable light-emitting systems. This review systematically summarizes the emission principles, device architectures, and material systems of ionic-conduction-based stretchable light-emitting devices. It is hoped that this review may serve as a useful reference for future studies and contribute to a better understanding of the design considerations and potential applications of high-performance stretchable light-emitting devices in wearable electronics, electronic skins, and intelligent interactive systems.

Cancers doi: 10.20517/iontronics.2026.001

Authors: Yuge Wu,Yao Liu,Congcong Zhu,Xiang-Yu Kong,Liping Wen

The olfactory system of biological intelligence, which enables accurate discernment of vital cues within complex odor mixtures, provides inspiration for the development of rapid and sensitive sensors. Olfactory perception is mediated by ionic fluxes that convert chemical information into electrical signals. Olfactory-inspired sensors utilize molecular recognition and transport in confined spaces to achieve macroscopic readouts of chemical information, holding significant potential to balance sensitivity, selectivity, and stability - long-standing challenges in traditional sensing. These sensors are expected to enable miniaturization, low power consumption, and reliable detection in real scenarios characterized by complex compositions, strong background interference, and extremely low target concentrations. This review provides development strategies for olfactory-inspired nanofluidic sensors and summarizes their bioinspired mechanisms, fabrication methods, and sensing applications. Finally, it highlights key challenges and potential future directions essential for advancing olfactory-inspired sensing technologies.

Cancers doi: 10.20517/iontronics.2026.13

Authors: Yan Du,Zhong Lin Wang,Daping Chu,Gehan Amaratunga,Di Wei

Flexible pressure sensors are vital for electronic skin, wearable electronics, and soft robotics. However, conventional electronic pressure sensors based on solid-state dielectrics suffer from limited dielectric tunability, mechanical instability, and static-dynamic response crosstalk, constraining their overall sensitivity and adaptability. Iontronics overcomes these constraints by introducing ionic dielectrics that form nanoscale electrical double layers (EDLs), where interfacial ion migration and polarization yield ultrahigh capacitance, high sensitivity, and dynamic adaptability. This iontronics mechanism not only enhances sensitivity and durability but also offers intrinsic biocompatibility and resistance to electromagnetic interference. Here, we systematically analyze the working principles, key performance determinants, and enhancement strategies of flexible iontronic pressure sensors, emphasizing the roles of EDL formation, ion migration, and interfacial capacitance in determining sensitivity, dynamic response, and long-term stability. Mechanistic insights and materials-structure-mechanism integration are discussed to provide guidance for rational device design and performance optimization in advanced tactile, wearable, and soft electronic systems.

Cancers doi: 10.20517/iontronics.2026.11

Authors: Linxin Zhai,Zhiping Xu

Ion transport under Ångström-scale confinement exhibits discontinuous and stochastic dynamics, inherently encoding information beyond merely transporting masses and charges. This capability has sparked growing interest in iontronics, a field aiming to harness ions as information carriers akin to biological systems. In contrast to electrons, which dominate modern electronics through high-speed switching at electron-volt energy scales, ions operate near the thermal energy scale (~ k_BT). Their diverse sizes, solvation characteristics, and interaction with the channels promise low-energy processing by leveraging thermal fluctuations. Here we investigate digitalized ion flow (the ‘ionbit’) using molecular dynamics simulations of single-file transport through Ångström-scale single-walled carbon nanotubes. By shaping the free-energy landscape of ion transport, we functionalize nanotube entrances and interconnect them via nanoscale pockets that regulate kinetics through a hopping-and-diffusion mechanism. Specifically, ion accumulation, dissipation, and sorption processes in the pocket emulate synaptic integration, leakage, and firing events, while intrinsically embedding a memory function analogous to biological systems. Governed by k_BT-level physics, this spiking neural network operates at ultralow energy cost, positioning iontronic circuits as a promising substrate for energy-efficient neuromorphic computation. We further discuss the key challenges that must be overcome to translate nanofluidic iontronic networks into scalable technologies, including precise assembly, robustness, and manufacturability.

Cancers doi: 10.20517/iontronics.2026.02

Authors: Boyang Xie,Ping Yu

The iontronic memristor has attracted growing attention as a promising candidate for neuromorphic computing and sensing. Recently, a novel iontronic memristor, termed the ion-shuttling memristor (ISM), has been proposed. Benefiting from its bio-mimicking structure, ISM can emulate ion-selective neuron functions alongside basic functions. ISM has several potential advantages, including interfacial receptors and the incorporation of multiple ionophores. On this basis, ISM may pave the way for future applications, such as sophisticated multi-carrier neuromorphic computing and neuromorphic sensing.