title: Electroactive controlled release thin films.
abstract: We present the fabrication of nanoscale electroactive thin films that can be engineered to undergo remotely controlled dissolution in the presence of a small applied voltage (+1.25 V) to release precise quantities of chemical agents. These films, which are assembled by using a nontoxic, FDA-approved, electroactive material known as Prussian Blue, are stable enough to release a fraction of their contents after the application of a voltage and then to restabilize upon its removal. As a result, it is possible to externally trigger agent release, exert control over the relative quantity of agents released from a film, and release multiple doses from one or more films in a single solution. These electroactive systems may be rapidly and conformally coated onto a wide range of substrates without regard to size, shape, or chemical composition, and as such they may find use in a host of new applications in drug delivery as well as the related fields of tissue engineering, medical diagnostics, and chemical detection.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Kris C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Nicole S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Zacharia
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Stefani N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Wrightman
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Andaya
authors.forename: Paula T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Hammond
mesh_terms: D016264:Dextran Sulfate / Q000737:chemistry; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004583:Electrons; D005295:Ferrocyanides; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D005295:Ferrocyanides; D016264:Dextran Sulfate; C000170:ferric ferrocyanide