An Electroconductive and Antibacterial Adhesive Nanocomposite Hydrogel for High‐Performance Skin Wound Healing

Abstract

Multifunctional hydrogel adhesives inhibiting infections and enabling the electrical stimulation (ES) of tissue reparation are highly desirable for the healing of surgical wounds and other skin injuries. Herein, a therapeutic nanocomposite hydrogel is designed by integrating β‐cyclodextrin‐embedded Ag nanoparticles (CDAgNPs) in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix enhanced with free β‐cyclodextrin (CD) and an atypical macromolecule made of β‐glucan grafted with hyaluronic acid (HAG). The main objective is to develop a biocompatible dressing combining the electroconductivity and antibacterial activity of CDAgNPs with the cohesiveness and porosity of PVA and the anti‐inflammatory, moisturizing, and cell proliferation‐promoting properties of HAG. The last component, CD, is added to strengthen the network structure of the hydrogel. PVA/CD/HAG/CDAgNP exhibited excellent adhesion strength, biocompatibility, electroconductivity, and antimicrobial activity against a wide range of bacteria. In addition, the nanocomposite hydrogel has a swelling ratio and water retention capacity suitable to serve as a wound dressing. PVA/CD/HAG/CDAgNP promoted the proliferation of fibroblast in vitro, accelerated the healing of skin wounds in an animal model, and is hemostatic. Upon ES, the PVA/CD/HAG/CDAgNP nanocomposite hydrogel became more efficient both in vitro and in vivo further speeding up the skin healing process thus demonstrating its potential as a next‐generation electroconductive wound dressing.

Innovative approaches in skin therapy: bionanocomposites for skin tissue repair and regeneration

“…108 The development of multifunctional hydrogel adhesives that can inhibit infections and enable electrical stimulation for tissue repair is extremely desired for healing surgical wounds and other skin damages. 109 In a recent work, Gu et al developed a collagen-based self-healing and injectable hydrogel composed of collagen/chitosan/oxidation-modified Konjac glucomannan hydrogel matrix (COL-CS-OKGM) with multifunctional capabilities for the regeneration of infected wounds. OKGM was used as crosslinker to build dynamic Schiff-base bonds.…”

“…Moreover, after 15 days, PVA/BC-Ag groups demonstrated more mature, flat, and thickened epidermis layers with more glands and blood vessels, so that the percentage of reducing wound size in group treated with PVA/ BC-Ag3, PVA/BC, and control was about 97.89 AE 0.97, 61.13 AE 5.37%, 47.74 AE 4.13%, respectively. 163 Zheng et al, 109 designed an electro-conductive hydrogel composed of b-cyclodextrin-embedded Ag NPs (CDAgNPs) taining PVA matrix incorporated free b-cyclodextrin (CD) and b-glucan grafted with hyaluronic acid (HAG) (PVA/CD/HAG/ CDAgNP) (Fig. 7(A)).…”

“…7(D)). 109 Liu et al, 164 prepared mupirocin (MP) and/or cerium oxide NPs (CeNPs) incorporated PVA/CS nanofiber membrane wound dressing using electrostatic spinning (Fig. 8).…”

“…Zheng et al , 109 designed an electro-conductive hydrogel composed of β-cyclodextrin-embedded Ag NPs (CDAgNPs) containing PVA matrix incorporated free β-cyclodextrin (CD) and β-glucan grafted with hyaluronic acid (HAG) (PVA/CD/HAG/CDAgNP) (Fig. 7(A)).…”

Bioelectret Materials and Their Bioelectric Effects for Tissue Repair: A Review

“…In the study of cell culture, external electrical stimulation (ES) is usually combined with conductive materials, so the cells cultured on this material can feel the strong stimulation of the external electric field . Conductive materials used in tissue repair and regeneration mainly include carbon-based conductive materials, − metal conductive materials, , conductive polymer materials, − and conductive composite materials. − …”