Interest in wearable biomedical devices continues to grow. Such devices could be greatly enabled if there were simple ways to stimulate drug release using electric fields. Electric fields are attractive because they can be easily applied even from remote locations, and generally give rise to a faster response.Most current attempts at electrically induced delivery have focused on materials that can conduct electricity, including conductive polymers and nanocomposites. Here, we show that electrical responses can be induced even in nonconducting, biopolymer-based materials. Our materials are microcapsules made from common, biocompatible polysaccharides like alginate and chitosan using ionic complexation. When these capsules are placed in aqueous solution and subjected to an electric field of about 10 V/cm, the particles deform within a minute and then burst within about 5 min. Such deformation and bursting can be used to release solutes loaded inside these structures. Also, the deformation of the capsules can be used to create electrically actuatable valves, where the flow of a liquid occurs only when the capsule blocking the flow is deformed. The mechanism for electrical bursting is complex and involves many aspects, including osmotic pressure differences, local pH changes, and electrophoretic movement. This mechanism will be discussed in the talk.<br/>

Electrically-activated bursting of aqueous microcapsules made from nonconducting, biocompatible polymers: A new mode for drug delivery compatible with wearable electronics

255th National Meeting (2018)

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