A Chemically Fueled Logic Gate With Temporally Programmable Output Delays by Harnessing Transient States of One Molecule in Two Independent Reaction Pathways

Temporal output delays in logic gates are ubiquitous in biological systems, especially in the nervous system, which sustains the signal transmission with enhanced computational complexity and transmission accuracy. However, temporally programmable output delays in chemically fueled logic gates (CFLGs) have not been achieved in an artificial system. Here, we report a bioinspired CFLG with programmable time delays of the output signal by harnessing transient states of the same molecule in two independent reaction networks. The CFLGs show programmable transient states by regulating reaction networks of urea-urease and adenosine triphosphate and potato apyrase, respectively. Notably, a transient state with delayed output emerges, mimicking the signal processing in the synaptic delay of biological systems. A self-destructive information encryption with enhanced coding capacity and safety is achieved in the arrays of CFLGs with spatiotemporally programmable output states. The findings in this work expand the range of non-equilibrium soft materials and will accelerate the development of innovative materials that can execute exquisite logic functions with enhanced coding capacity and biomimetic time delays.