Application of self powered black phosphorus nanosheets-based hydrogel skin patch in wound healing of diabetes

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus-related chronic non-healing wounds have greatly lowered the quality of life for people afflicted and placed a heavy financial burden on the healthcare system. In order to hasten the healing of diabetic wounds, a wearable hydrogel-based triboelectric nanogenerator (BP-TENG) was created as a skin patch, which combines the beneficial effects of electrical and photothermal stimulation. The triboelectric output performance of the BP-TENG was adjusted and photothermal conversion capacity was brought about by the black phosphorus nanosheets (BPNS) doped in PVA hydrogel. In just 60 seconds, BP-TENG managed to bring the temperature of the mouse wound region up to 48.6°C under the irradiation of 808 nm near-infrared light. BP-TENG also exhibited spectral antibacterial activity against E. coli, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa. Furthermore, BP-TENG had the ability to capture the energy from mechanical movements of mice and transform it into electrical stimulation. Under 808 nm near-infrared light irradiation, BP-TENG was shown to significantly speed the healing of skin wounds in the incision mouse model of type I diabetes. According to in vitro research, these benefits may be ascribed to photothermal and electric stimulation, which can both repair the healthy microenvironment of wound area and speed up the deposition and remodeling of collagen during the healing process of diabetic wounds. As far as we are aware, this is the first report on the creation and use of hydrogel-based TENG doped with BP for wound healing. We believe that this study improves the quality of life for patients with persistent non-healing wounds and opens up new possibilities for 2D materials and TENG in the application of wearable healthcare devices.