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Conjugated Polymer for Voltage‐Controlled Release of Molecules
Author(s) -
Liu Shenghua,
Fu Ying,
Li Guijun,
Li Li,
Law Helen Kawai,
Chen Xianfeng,
Yan Feng
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201701733
Subject(s) - materials science , conjugated system , nanotechnology , polymer , drug delivery , bioelectronics , conductive polymer , controlled release , biosensor , composite material
Conjugated polymers are attractive in numerous biological applications because they are flexible, biocompatible, cost‐effective, solution‐processable, and electronic/ionic conductive. One interesting application is for controllable drug release, and this has been realized previously using organic electronic ion pumps. However, organic electronic ion pumps show high operating voltages and limited transportation efficiency. Here, the first report of low‐voltage‐controlled molecular release with a novel organic device based on a conjugated polymer poly(3‐hexylthiophene) is presented. The releasing rate of molecules can be accurately controlled by the duration of the voltage applied on the device. The use of a handy mobile phone to remotely control the releasing process and its application in delivering an anticancer drug to treat cancer cells are also successfully demonstrated. The working mechanism of the device is attributed to the unique switchable permeability of poly(3‐hexylthiophene) in aqueous solutions under a bias voltage that can tune the wettability of poly(3‐hexylthiophene) via oxidation or reduction processes. The organic devices are expected to find many promising applications for controllable drug delivery in biological systems.