diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index c8aca9a..e436271 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "@cardinal-cryptography/ecies-encryption-lib",
   "author": "CardinalCryptography",
-  "version": "0.1.0",
+  "version": "0.1.1",
   "description": "ECIES encryption library (proxy to ts/lib)",
   "main": "ts/lib/dist/index.js",
   "types": "ts/lib/dist/index.d.ts",
diff --git a/ts/lib/src/index.ts b/ts/lib/src/index.ts
index 63ffa6b..a5d9400 100644
--- a/ts/lib/src/index.ts
+++ b/ts/lib/src/index.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,22 @@
 import * as secp from "@noble/secp256k1";
 import { TextEncoder, TextDecoder } from "util";
 
-export function toHex(buf: Uint8Array): string {
-  return Buffer.from(buf).toString("hex");
+
+export function toHex(uint8: Uint8Array): string {
+  return Array.from(uint8)
+    .map((byte) => byte.toString(16).padStart(2, "0"))
+    .join("");
 }
 
 export function fromHex(hex: string): Uint8Array {
-  return new Uint8Array(Buffer.from(hex, "hex"));
+  if (hex.length % 2 !== 0) {
+    throw new Error("Hex string must have an even length");
+  }
+  const bytes = new Uint8Array(hex.length / 2);
+  for (let i = 0; i < hex.length; i += 2) {
+    bytes[i / 2] = parseInt(hex.slice(i, i + 2), 16);
+  }
+  return bytes;
 }
 
 export async function getCrypto(): Promise<Crypto> {
@@ -125,7 +135,7 @@ export async function decrypt(
 }
 
 export async function encryptPadded(
-  message: string,
+  message: string | Uint8Array,
   recipientPubHex: string,
   cryptoAPI: Crypto,
   paddedLength: number
@@ -145,7 +155,9 @@ export async function encryptPadded(
   view.setUint32(0, message.length, true);
   encoded.set(new Uint8Array(buffer), 0);
 
-  encoded.set(new TextEncoder().encode(message), 4);
+  const encodedMessage = message instanceof Uint8Array ? message : new TextEncoder().encode(message);
+
+  encoded.set(encodedMessage, 4);
   const encrypted = await _encrypt(encoded, recipientPubHex, cryptoAPI);
   return toHex(encrypted);
 }