Chronic wounds are characterized by a localized pH change from acidic (healthy) to\nalkaline (unhealthy), which can be harnessed to act as a switch for drug release from a polymer\nmedium covering the wound for improved healing. To realize this, a new polymer dressing material\nis needed to help heal chronic wounds. Polypyrrole (PPy) is a biocompatible electroactive polymer\nthat has been proven as a successful drug delivery mechanism, but currently lacks the capacity\nfor scalable clinical applications due to its poor processability. In this study, PPy films with and\nwithout microstructures were produced using electrochemical oxidation and subsequently doped\nwith fluorescein, a model drug molecule. To increase the drug loading capacity, microstructures were\ncreated through soft template polymerization of pyrrole around hydrogen gas bubbles. Fluorescein\nrelease was measured using UV spectroscopy over a pH range of 2 to 11, showing increased release\nat higher pH values. Microstructured films showed an increased doping capacity compared to flat\nPPy films, attributed to the increase in drug incorporation sites. The pH-activated release mechanism\nwas shown to be successful and can be applied as a pH-sensitive biosensor and drug delivery system\nin vitro.
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