ABSTRACT Recent studies suggest that living organisms process information by using interactions between non-linear oscillators. As a step toward realizing a brain-like computer, we developed a device that is based on oscillations. We successfully made a stable non-linear oscillator: a polypyrrole (PPy) membrane system in which the counter electrode and the reference electrode were placed in separate cells that were on either side of a working electrode that contained a PPy membrane. In this system, PPy electrochemically polymerized on a gold minigrid electrode showed periodic current oscillations when a potential, whose level was between the oxidation and reduction potential of PPy, was applied to the membrane. These non-linear oscillations could be modulated by adjusting either the salt concentration, pH, or alkyl alcohol in the solution of the counter electrode side. These results suggest that this oscillatory system can be used as a chemical sensor, such as an ionic or a taste sensor.
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