01
↗
Neuromorphic circuits for tactile sensing
Spiking, event-driven circuits that encode and process tactile stimuli close to the sensor, the way biological afferents do.
NEUTOUCH LAB
Nanjing UniversityTeaching
machines
to feel
We engineer the sense of touch — from soft sensor skins to the circuits and robots that understand them.
AT THE INTERSECTION
At NeuTouch Lab, we study how physical contact becomes meaningful information — connecting mechanics, emerging devices, electronic circuits, and intelligent systems to build the next generation of tactile technology
01 / RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
Four scales
One sense of touch
Touch is our richest and least understood sense. We study it end to end: materials, stimuli, computation, and action.
02
↗
Emerging neuromorphic devices
Synaptic transistors that combine sensing, memory, and learning in a single element.
03
↗
Hardware-software co-design
Jointly designing sensors, circuits, and learning algorithms so electronic skin can feel and learn efficiently in real systems.
04
↗
Mechanical simulation of skin-like materials
Modelling how soft, skin-like materials deform under contact to guide sensor layout and interpret tactile stimuli.
OUR VISION
What if machines could feel the world — not just see it?
02 / RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
From contact
to cognition
From physical signals to meaningful perception — four connected stages in a tactile intelligence system.
-
01CONTACT & SIGNAL
Sensing
Skin-like tactile sensors convert pressure, contact position and deformation into measurable electrical signals.
Electronic skin · Tactile arrays -
02EVENT REPRESENTATION
Encoding
Continuous tactile signals become temporal features and sparse, event-driven spikes for efficient processing.
Temporal features · Spike trains -
03NEUROMORPHIC PROCESSING
Computing
Devices, circuits and algorithms cooperate to extract tactile features close to the sensor.
Neuromorphic circuits · Edge AI -
04PERCEPTION & FEEDBACK
Understanding
Tactile features inform object and contact-state recognition, with feedback guiding robotic interaction.
Object recognition · Closed loop
A conceptual workflow for explaining research directions.
03 / PUBLICATIONS
Publications
Publications by Fengyuan Liu and collaborators, listed by year.
All publications
Selected papers. For the full list, see Google Scholar.
Full list on Google Scholar ↗2025
Stochastic Nature of Large-Scale Contact Printed ZnO Nanowires Based Transistors
Advanced Functional Materials 35 (2), 2412299
Cognizant and Socially Aware Robotics
Computer 58 (10), 2025
From printed devices to vertically stacked, 3D flexible hybrid systems
Advanced Materials 37 (10), 2411151
2024
Toward all flexible sensing systems for next-generation wearables
Wearable Electronics 1, 137–149
2022
Neuro-inspired electronic skin for robots
Science Robotics 7 (67), eabl7344
Printed synaptic transistor–based electronic skin for robots to feel and learn
Science Robotics 7 (67), eabl7286
2021
Development of a highly controlled system for large-area, directional printing of quasi-1D nanomaterials
Microsystems & Nanoengineering 7, 82
2020
A flexible chip with embedded intelligence
Nature Electronics 3 (7), 358–359
Monolayer MoSe₂-based tunneling field effect transistor for ultrasensitive strain sensing
IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 67 (5), 2140–2146
2019
van der Waals contact engineering of graphene field-effect transistors for large-area flexible electronics
ACS Nano 13 (3), 3257–3268
Large-area soft e-skin: The challenges beyond sensor designs
Proceedings of the IEEE 107 (10), 2016–2033
2018
Piezoelectric graphene field effect transistor pressure sensors for tactile sensing
Applied Physics Letters 113 (1)
2016
Angle-selective perfect absorption with two-dimensional materials
Light: Science & Applications 5, e16052
2014
Tunable, ultralow-power switching in memristive devices enabled by a heterogeneous graphene-oxide interface
Advanced Materials 26 (20), 3275–3281
04 / PEOPLE
People behind
the science
Meet the researchers building tactile intelligence at Nanjing University.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Prof. Fengyuan Liu
Associate Professor · Principal Investigator
Nanjing University
fengyuanliu@nju.edu.cn ↗Lab members
Four master students · Two bachelor students
Haoyuan Qiu
Master student
Mohan Cao
Master student
Dingkun Xia
Master student
Kaibo Wang
Master student
Yizhuo Zhao
Bachelor student
Jingqi Yin
Bachelor student
05 / FROM THE LAB
Notes and
milestones
People, ideas and events shaping the development of NeuTouch Lab.
Welcome master student Kaibo Wang joining the group!
Fengyuan Liu attended the Micro/Nano Optical Technology and Application Conference in Chengdu, China.
Welcome bachelor students Yizhuo Zhao and Jingqi Yin joining the group!
Welcome master students Mohan Cao and Dingkun Xia joining the group!
Welcome master student Haoyuan Qiu joining the group!
Neutouch Lab is founded!
06 / JOIN NEUTOUCH LAB
Curiosity
into discovery
We are always looking for talented and self-motivated researchers with a background in circuit design, mechanics, robotics, device physics, or materials to join us.
OPEN TO COLLABORATION
Build what touch can become
Send your CV and a short statement of interest to fengyuanliu@nju.edu.cn.
Circuit DesignMechanicsRoboticsDevice PhysicsMaterials
Contact the lab ↗Research opportunities
Across career stages and disciplinesPostdoctoral researchers
Full-time research positions.
PhD students
Doctoral research in tactile sensing.
Master students
Master's projects within the group.
Bachelor students
Undergraduate research projects.
Research assistants
Project-based research support.
International students
I am happy to support international students with a CSC scholarship or other fellowship schemes.