Near infrared light triggered release of biomacromolecules from hydrogels loaded with upconversion nanoparticles

B Yan, JC Boyer, D Habault, NR Branda…

Index: Yan, Bin; Boyer, John-Christopher; Habault, Damien; Branda, Neil R.; Zhao, Yue Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2012 , vol. 134, # 40 p. 16558 - 16561

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Citation Number: 157

Abstract

Using a photosensitive hybrid hydrogel loaded with upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), we show that continuous-wave near-infrared (NIR) light (980 nm) can be used to induce the gel–sol transition and release large, inactive biomacromolecules (protein and enzyme) entrapped in the hydrogel into aqueous solution “on demand”, where their bioactivity is recovered. This study is a new demonstration and development in harnessing the unique ...