Figure 11.

Schematic illustration of a NIR laser responsive deformation-free hydrogel containing embedded polypyrrole (PPy) NPs: (a) pre-heated agarose solution was mixed with alginate and PPy NPs and injected into patterned mold; (b) cooling to induce gelation of agarose, determining shape of the hydrogel and served as a template for alginate gelation; (c) CaCl₂ was added to form an alginate network, which provided the mechanical support during laser irradiation; (d) periodic switching of NIR laser to digitally control agarose melting for pulsatile drug release, reproduced with permission from [408]. Copyright Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014.