Antibacterial self-healing bilayer dressing for epidermal sensors and accelerate wound repair

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of the bilayer hydrogel as a wound dressing on the wound-healing rate. We synthesized a self-healing hydrogel with optimized formulation by introducing natural polymer (chitosan) and arginine to the hydrogel composition. We then characterized the hydrogels using FT-IR, thermal analysis, mechanical testing, and in vitro and in vivo assay. The resulting bilayer wound dressing offers a lot of desirable characteristics, including good self-healing and repeatable adhesiveness. Likewise, the conductive bilayer wound dressing could be used to analyze the patient's healthcare data in real-time as epidermal sensors. Bilayer wound dressings remarkably have broad antibacterial efficacy against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The potential applications of this bilayer wound dressing are illustrated by detectable body movement and conductivity. The wound-healing rate of bilayer wound dressings containing chitosan and arginine was higher, but those without the aforementioned ingredients had lower wound-healing efficacy. Additionally, promoting collagen synthesis and reducing wound infection has a considerable therapeutic impact on wounds. These results could have significant implications for the development of high-performance wound dressings.