Development of a fluid-absorptive alginate-chitosan bioplatform for potential application as a wound dressing

This study introduces a novel approach in fabricating bioplatforms with favourable physical, chemical, and mechanical properties for wound dressing applications. The approach employs a three-step method; partial-crosslinking of polymers into soft macromatrices, lyophilization, and pulverization of those macromatrices to obtain polymer particles with improved properties. For investigation of this approach, the ionic polysaccharides, sodium alginate and chitosan were partially crosslinked with calcium chloride and sodium tripolyphosphate, respectively, followed by interpolymer complexation (IPC) for formation of the bioplatform. The formulations displayed good thermal stability with enhanced water uptake. The IPC exhibited water uptake of 4343.4% over 24 h and displayed 78% biodegradation over 14 days, which was superior to that of a commercial alginate-based wound dressing (1612.56% swelling and 16.26% biodegradation). The bioplatform thus possessed promising fluid-absorptivity and biodegradability, for potential application as a wound therapeutic system.