The team fabricated an electrically responsive nanoporous membrane based on polypyrrole doped with the dodecylbenzenesulfonate anions (PPy/DBS) which was electropolymerized to the top and upper side walls of anodized aluminum oxide membrane.
The nanopores can be controllable down to nanometer scale depending on electrochemical states (oxidation vs reduction states) and switching between the states takes less than 10 seconds.
Since this device can be used for intermittent or on-demand drug delivery, it can be applied to new therapeutic methods of treating endocrinological diseases.
Until now, the team has demonstrated the drug release of their system only in in-vitro conditions.