Controlled Sr(ii) ion release from crosslinking electroactive hydrogels with potential for the treatment of infections.

The development of electrochemical stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems is of both academic and industrial interest due to the ease with which it is possible to trigger payload release, providing drug delivery in a controllable manner. Herein, the preparation of forming hydrogels including electroactive polypyrrole nanoparticles (PPy-NPs) where Sr ions are electrochemically loaded for electrically triggered release of Sr ions is reported. The hydrogels were characterized by a variety of techniques including Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), cyclic voltammetry (CV), The cytocompatibility towards human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and fibroblasts were also studied.