Preparation of a chitosan/carboxymethyl chitosan/AgNPs polyelectrolyte composite physical hydrogel with self-healing ability, antibacterial properties, and good biosafety simultaneously, and its application as a wound dressing

Jueying Yang, Yu Chen*, Lin Zhao, Zhipan Feng, Kelin Peng, Ailing Wei, Yalun Wang, Zongrui Tong, Bin Cheng

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

132 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The preparation of hydrogel wound dressing materials with high antibacterial activities and good biosafety simultaneously can be relatively challenging. Aiming at solving this crucial problem, a multi-functional chitosan/carboxymethyl chitosan/silver nanoparticles (CTS/CMCTS/AgNPs) polyelectrolyte composite physical hydrogel is constructed by in situ photoreduction of silver ions with α-hydroxy of CMCTS and semi-dissolution acidification sol-gel transition (SD-A-SGT) methods using natural polymers with no chemical reductant involved. The XRD, TEM and IR characterizations reveal a highly uniform structure of the composite hydrogel with good mechanical strength. The composite hydrogel also exhibits good self-healing ability, and the self-healing mechanism of the composite hydrogel prepared by natural polymers with high similarity is put forward on the basis of molecular dynamics simulation. The AgNPs gives the hydrogel excellent antibacterial activities against both S. aureus and P. aeruginosa., while the preparation method with no chemical reductant and crosslinking agent required endows the hydrogel high biocompatibility. The great application potentials of CTS/CMCTS/AgNPs polyelectrolyte composite hydrogel are demonstrated with its promoting effects on the healing of P. aeruginosa infected wounds as the wound dressing. It is a breakthrough in achieving hydrogels with desired biosafety and antibacterial activities simultaneously. The composite hydrogel is found with great application potentials as wound dressing.

Original languageEnglish
Article number108139
JournalComposites Part B: Engineering
Volume197
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Sept 2020

Keywords

  • In situ photoreduction
  • Physical hydrogels
  • Self-healing
  • Semi-dissolution acidification sol-gel transition
  • Wound dressing

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Preparation of a chitosan/carboxymethyl chitosan/AgNPs polyelectrolyte composite physical hydrogel with self-healing ability, antibacterial properties, and good biosafety simultaneously, and its application as a wound dressing'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this