NIR laser-responsive liquid metal-loaded polymeric hydrogels for controlled release of doxorubicin

Liquid metals (LMs) have recently emerged as a new class of promising multifunctional materials with attractive properties. They have excellent photothermal conversion efficiency, generating heat under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. This work reports encapsulating LM droplets into poly(NIPAm-co-MBA) hydrogels (PNM) to achieve nanodispersed liquid metals in bulk polymeric hydrogels for NIR laser-responsive materials. LM droplets (∼530 nm) are produced by dispersing an alloy of gallium and indium (EGaIn) into glycerol. The LM-loaded PNM hydrogels (PNM/LM) exhibited excellent thermal-/NIR laser-responsive ability. In a water bath, the weight of the PNM/LM can decrease 92% at 50 °C. And the volume of PNM/LM can decrease 62% under NIR laser irradiation for 12 min. Because of its thermal-/NIR laser-responsive ability and porous three-dimensional (3D) networks, PNM/LM is very suitable for use as a drug carrier. We also prepared doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded PNM/LM hydrogels (PNM/LM/DOX) and demonstrated that the PNM/LM/DOX hydrogel can generate heat and raise its temperature under NIR laser irradiation. When the temperature becomes higher than the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), such a hydrogel would shrink immediately and extrude the DOX encapsulated in its networks simultaneously, then complete the controlled release of the pre-loaded drug. Further, an in vitro cytotoxicity test indicated the biocompatibility and feasibility as a chemophotothermal synergistic therapeutic of the present hydrogel. This NIR laser-responsive hydrogel fully exhibits its superiority as a drug carrier which promises great potential in future targeted controlled drug release.