Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 2013, 1, 4593-4600

Design, engineering and structural integrity of electro-responsive carbon nanotube-poly(methyl) methacrylate hydrogels for pulsatile drug release

Ania Servant, Cyrill Bussy, Khuloud Al-Jamal and Kostas Kostarelos

Triggerable drug delivery from polymeric implants offers the possibility to generate remote-controlled drug release profiles that may overcome the deficiencies of conventional administration routes (intravenous injections and oral administration) including the toxicity due to overdose and systemic administration. An electro-responsive delivery system was engineered to deliver drug molecules in a pulsatile manner, controlled by the ON/OFF application of electric voltage. Pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes (pMWNTs) were incorporated in a methacrylic acid-based (PMAA) hydrogel matrix by in-situ radical polymerisation.