MXene-Enhanced Chitin Composite Sponges with Antibacterial and Hemostatic Activity for Wound Healing

This study shows the effective use of MXene-based nanomaterials to improve the performance of biocomposite sponges in wound healing. In this way, diverse chitin/MXene composite sponges are fabricated by incorporating MXene-based nanomaterials with various morphology (accordion-shaped, intercalated, single-layer, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-loaded single-layer) into the network of chitin sponge (CH), which can prevent massive blood losses and promote the healing process of bacterial-infected wounds. With the addition of MXene-based nanomaterials, the hemostatic efficacy of CH is enhanced due to the improved hemophilicity and accelerated blood coagulation kinetics. Furthermore, the composite sponges show a predominant antibacterial activity through the synergy between the capture and the photothermal effects. Importantly, the addition of AuNPs to composite sponges further improves hemostatic performance and promotes normal skin cell migration to heal the infected wound, achieving wound closure rates of 84% on day 9. These initial studies expand the applications of MXene-based nanomaterials in biomedical fields.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the effective use of MXene-based nanomaterials in improving the performance of biocomposite sponges for wound healing. By incorporating MXene nanomaterials with different morphologies into the network of chitin sponge, the hemostatic efficacy of the sponge is enhanced, and the composite sponges exhibit excellent antibacterial activity. The addition of gold nanoparticles further improves the hemostatic performance and wound closure rates.