Advanced chemical engineering together with the incorporation of micro- and nanotechnological-based processes are on the way to revolutionize diabetic management.

Drug loaded hydrogels have proven to be versatile controlled-release systems. We report here on heat active hydrogels' formation by mixing graphene oxide (GO) or carboxyl enriched reduced graphene oxide (rGO-COOH) with metformin hydrochloride, an insulin sensitizer drug currently used as first line therapy to treat patients with type 2 diabetes. The driving forces of the gelation process between the graphene-based nanomaterial and metformin are hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions, weakened at elevated temperature. Using the excellent photothermal properties of the graphene matrixes, we demonstrate that these supramolecular drug reservoirs can be photothermally activated for transdermal metformin delivery. A sustained delivery of metformin was achieved using a laser power of 1 W cm -2 . In vitro assessment of the key target Glucose-6 Phosphatase (G6P) gene expression using Human hepatocyte model confirmed that metformin activity was unaffected by photothermal activation.In vivo, metformin was detected in mice plasma at 1h post-activation of the metformin loaded rGO-COOH gel.