Flexible, Breathable, and Self-Powered Patch Assembled of Electrospun Polymer Triboelectric Layers and Polypyrrole-Coated Electrode for Infected Chronic Wound Healing

Abstract

Chronic wound healing is often impaired by bacterial infection and weak trans-epithelial potential. Patches with electrical stimulation and bactericidal activity may solve this problem. However, inconvenient power and resistant antibiotics limit their application. Here, we proposed a self-powered and intrinsic bactericidal patch based on a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). Electrospun polymer tribo-layers and a chemical vapordeposited polypyrrole electrode are assembled as the TENG, offering the patch excellent flexibility, breathability, and wettability. Electrical stimulations by harvesting mechanical motions and positive charges on the polypyrrole surface kill over 96% of bacteria due to their synergistic effects on cell membrane disruption. Moreover, the TENG patch promotes infected diabetic rat skin wounds to heal within 2 weeks. Cell culture and animal tests suggest that electrical stimulation enhances gene expression of growth factors for accelerated wound healing. This work provides new insights into the design of wearable and multifunctional electrotherapy devices for chronic wound treatment.

Wearable Magnetoelectric Stimulation for Chronic Wound Healing by Electrospun CoFe2O4@CTAB/PVDF Dressings

“…The magnetoelectric response performance results indicate that CCP possesses outstanding power supply capability. Thus, CCP eliminates the requirement for corrosive rigid metal electrodes and large external devices linked to direct electrical stimulation . Additionally, it addresses concerns about skin burns caused by high-frequency electric field heating …”

“…In contrast, the outer membrane of S. aureus (Gram-positive bacteria) has thicker peptidoglycans and long-chain phosphoric acid walls, making Gram-positive bacteria more resistant to external charges . Therefore, considering the antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity results, we selected the optimal CTAB amount in the CCP fibers as 2% (CC2P) for the subsequent cell experiments.…”

Sequential Anti-Infection and Proangiogenesis of DMOG@ZIF-8/Gelatin-PCL Electrospinning Dressing for Chronic Wound Healing

“…The strong expression of VEGF (a vascular endothelial growth factor that promotes angiogenesis) indicates an inherent mechanism for increased blood-vessel density in the wound tissue of the DZGP group . The staining intensity of TGF-β showed a similar trend to VEGF (Figure c) as this growth factor promotes the formation of the extracellular matrix …”

Stearic Acid-Enhanced Triboelectric Nanogenerators with High Waterproof, Output Performance, and Wear Resistance for Efficient Harvesting of Mechanical Energy and Self-Powered Sensing for Human Motion Monitoring

“…Currently, many research efforts have been devoted to improving the output performance of TENGs from various perspectives to broaden their applications, such as increasing the total triboelectric charge by increasing the effective contact area between the positive and negative triboelectric layer and the surface charge density through material surface patterning, , chemical modification, − charge excitation, charge injection, modulation of the conductive layer, and electrostatic spinning to enhance the output performance of TENGs. For example, although Lin et al and Tang et al can improve the output performance of TENGs through electrospinning, , the proposed method not only requires complex manufacturing processes, expensive equipment, time-consuming processes, and complex device structures, but also fails to consider the problem of severe material surface wear in practical applications. These will lead to an increase of the cost of TENGs and are not conducive to the stability and durability of TENGs, which seriously hinders the development and application of TENGs.…”