Polyelectrolyte/carbon nanotube composite microcapsules and drug release triggered by laser irradiation

The fabrication of stimuli-responsive capsules is one of the hot topics in the research field of drug delivery systems. Near-infrared (NIR) light is one of the promising stimuli, because of its high transparency to biological tissues, and NIR-responsive capsules have been fabricated using various NIR-adsorbing materials. Here, we employed single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as the NIR-adsorbing material, and microcapsules containing SWCNTs were fabricated by a combination of the layer-by-layer and template-assisted methods. The anti-cancer drug was loaded into the capsules, and the release rates in the dark and under NIR laser irradiation were compared. Distinct release was confirmed in the latter case, whereas almost no release was detected in the former case, indicating that the SWCNT molecule is a suitable light absorber for use with optically addressable drug carriers. (C) 2016 The Japan Society of Applied Physics