Optically Driven Eutectogel Pyroelectric for Efficient Deformable Photodetectors.

Liu, Zhengdong; Wu, Jicai; Zeng, Yang; Wang, Kexin; Li, Xiujuan; Wang, Shaohua; Zhang, Zhenyu; Huang, Chaoran et al. · Adv Mater · 2026

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Ionic gels are emerging stimuli-response elastomers for biomimetic sensors in diverse fields. Photoresponse ionic gels can detect light as a photoreceptor to emulate biological vision for artificial retina and skin. However, the existing ionic gel-based photosensors face limited response speeds and detecting sensitivity due to inefficient ion transport. Here, a high-performance elastomeric photodetector made of polyvinyl alcohol-based pyroelectric eutectogels, containing polar ions and crystalline domains, is reported, which exhibits a high pyroelectric coefficient and enables efficient optical-to-electrical conversion via spontaneous polarization, even under 30% tensile strain. The resulting self-powered photodetector features a broad spectral response spanning 365-1300 nm, with photoresponsivity, detectivity, and response time of 42.06 mA W<sup>-1</sup>, 7.65 × 10<sup>10</sup> Jones and 24/35 ms at 455 nm, respectively. The photodetector array enables light-encrypted communication and sensitive optical imaging.