Conductive Hydrogel Systems Enabling Rapid and Controllable Release of Guests at Low-Voltage Region

Smart delivery materials that respond to electric fields attract interest across various fields, whereas systems enabling rapid, controllable, and safe delivery capabilities remain essential. Based on the hypothesis of utilizing electric field to manipulate inter-component noncovalent bonds in delivery materials, a hydrogel system is hereby reported that is capable of achieving rapid guest release at low-voltage region. This system harnesses the synergistic regulation of electric field-induced host-guest electrostatic repulsion, alongside the dynamic modulation of H-bond interactions within the conductive hydrogel. Consequently, a voltage of 1.5 V influences the multi-component non-covalent crosslinking, inducing reversible pore size enlargement, and achieving an accelerated yet controlled release of 39-48% within 120 min at 1.5 V, with a low-threshold release voltage of 0.5 V. This conductive hydrogel system enables the rapid and controlled release of various guest molecules, including drugs, fluorescent probes, and luminophores, underscoring the universality of the strategy. Furthermore, an electrical control device constructed from such hydrogel blocks is demonstrated, which is capable of performing "time-specific" information encoding and access. The mechanism relies on physical processes, avoiding traditional redox reactions, thereby inspiring the development of safe and efficient electrically responsive materials and devices with diverse functionalities, leveraging the synergistic effect of multi-component non-covalent interactions.