Construction of a graphene/polypyrrole composite electrode as an electrochemically controlled release system.

A new class of stimuli responsive drug delivery systems is emerging to establish new paradigms for enhancing therapeutic efficacy. To date, most electro-responsive systems rely on noble metal electrodes that likely cause the limitations for implantation applications. Herein, a graphene/polypyrrole composite electrode (GN-PPy-FL) was fabricated based on two-dimensional (2D) graphene (GN) film and conductive and biocompatible polypyrrole (PPy) nanoparticles loaded with a negative drug model of fluorescein sodium (FL) via chemical oxidation polymerization. The conductive composite electrode was utilized as a drug carrier to realize the electrically controlled release of the FL. The release rate from conductive nanoparticles can be controlled by the applied voltages. The study provides a multi-stimuli responsive drug release system, demonstrating the potential applications of the controlled release of various drugs, peptides or proteins.