ONDEMAND Drug Delivery: The Role of Conducting Polymers and Wirefree Electrochemistry

Brady, Aine and McCormac, Timothy and Forster, Robert (2024) ONDEMAND Drug Delivery: The Role of Conducting Polymers and Wirefree Electrochemistry. Doctoral thesis, Dundalk Institute of Technology.

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Abstract

At the moment, breast cancer is one of the most dominant forms of cancer globally, diagnosing 2.3 million people in 2020 alone, according to the World Health Organization. While current treatments exhibit some encouraging outcomes, the associated side effects are profound and severe. The aim of this project is the creation of an ‘on demand’ drug delivery system, tackling one of the most formidable issues in modern society. The drug delivery system is based on the use of biocompatible, multifunctional, electronically conducting polymers so as to enable more effective therapy for cancer patients, whilst reducing common side effects. Based on the redox switching of conducting polymers, a drug delivery system was created using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) as the drug release vehicle, having the ability to load and release materials upon oxidation and reduction. The second part of the project focuses on the fundamentals of ‘wirefree’ or bipolar electrochemistry. The main focus of this work is to challenge current theories in the field, to provide a thorough, in-depth understanding of the technique. In combining the work presented in this thesis, a thorough understanding of conducting polymer drug delivery and wireless electrochemistry has been established. Further building on this work could see the development of a wirelessly triggered conducting polymer-based drug delivery system that could be used as a minimally or non-invasive method for delivering therapeutics to patients. Keywords: Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, breast cancer, drug delivery, bipolar electrochemistry.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	Science > Chemistry
Research Centres:	UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User:	Timothy McCormac
Date Deposited:	13 Nov 2025 11:30
Last Modified:	13 Nov 2025 11:30
URI:	https://eprints.dkit.ie/id/eprint/951

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