Ultra-stretchable, tissue-adhesive, shape-adaptive, self-healing, on-demand removable hydrogel dressings with multiple functions for infected wound healing in regions of high mobility

Bacterial infection in the most mobile area usually leads to delayed healing and functional restriction, which has been a long-term challenge in clinic. Developing hydrogel-based dressings with mechanical flexibly, high adhesive and anti-bacterial properties, will contribute to the healing and therapeutic ef-fects especially for this typical skin wound. In this work, composite hydrogel named PBOF through multi -reversible bonds between polyvinyl alcohol, borax, oligomeric procyanidin and ferric ion demonstrated a 100 times ultra-stretch ability, 24 kPa of highly tissue-adhesive, rapid shape-adaptability within 2 min and self-healing feature within 40 s, was designed as the multifunctional wound dressing for the Staphy-lococcus aureus-infected skin wound in the mice nape model. Besides, this hydrogel dressing could be eas-ily removed on-demand within 10 min by water. The rapid disassembly of this hydrogel is related to the formation of hydrogen bonds between polyvinyl alcohol and water. Moreover, the multifunctional proper-ties of this hydrogel include strong anti-oxidative, anti-bacteria and hemostasis derived from oligomeric procyanidin and photothermal effect of ferric ion/polyphenol chelate. The killing ratio of the hydrogel on Staphylococcus aureus in infected skin wound reached 90.6% when exposed to 808 nm irradiation for 10 min. Simultaneously, reduced oxidative stress, suppressed inflammation, and promoted angiogenesis all together accelerated wound healing. Therefore, this well-designed multifunctional PBOF hydrogel holds great promise as skin wound dressing especially in the high mobile regions of the body. Statement of significance An ultra-stretchable, highly tissue-adhesive, and rapidly shape-adaptive, self-healing and on-demand removable hydrogel based on multi-reversible bonds among polyvinyl alcohol, borax, oligomeric procyani-din and ferric ion is designed as dressing material for infected wound healing in the movable nape. The rapid on-demand removal of the hydrogel relates to the formation of hydrogen bonds between polyvinyl alcohol and water. This hydrogel dressing shows strong antioxidant capacity, rapid hemostasis and pho-tothermal antibacterial ability. This is derived from oligomeric procyanidin and thephotothermal effect of ferric ion/polyphenol chelate, which eliminates bacterial infection, reduces oxidative stress, regulates inflammation, promotes angiogenesis, and finally accelerates the infected wound healing in movable part. & COPY; 2023 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, a multifunctional PBOF hydrogel was designed, with ultra-stretchability, high tissue adhesion, rapid adaptability, and self-healing ability. It can be used for treating infected skin wounds, with antioxidant, antibacterial, and hemostatic capabilities, to accelerate wound healing.