Double crosslinking chitosan sponge with antibacterial and hemostatic properties for accelerating wound repair

Abstract

Skin trauma with uncontrolled bleeding and bacterial infection are major challenges in clinical wound management. Therefore, the design of elastic and biodegradability wound dressing with antibacterial and hemostatic properties are attracting increasing attention. In the study, chitosan (CS) and graphene oxide (GO) are covalently bound by EDC/NHS to form a complex and followed by the introduction of tannic acid (TA) as secondary cross-linking agent after removing the acidity of chitosan. CS/GO/TA sponges can exist stably in aqueous solution and has good compression recovery performance. In vitro experiments showed that CS/GO/TA sponges have antibacterial, antioxidant, non-hemolysis, blood cell adhesion and cytocompatibility. In vivo experiments in rats showed that CS/GO/TA sponges can quickly stop bleeding and promote wound healing, which has good clinical application potential. Here, we designed a series of antibacterial and antioxidant sponges based on chitosan (CS)/graphene oxide (GO) and tannic acid (TA). CS and GO are covalently bound by EDC/NHS to form a complex, and then TA is introduced as a hemostatic agent and antioxidant. Remove excess acid from sponge in dry ammonia environment, and TA is connected with the deprotonated amino group on CS molecule through hydrogen bond to form sponge. These sponges can exist stably in aqueous solution and has good compression recovery performance. The sponges have effect of adhesion to blood cells and platelets, and can be used for rapid surface hemostasis and wound healing. The prepared sponge has excellent antibacterial and antioxidant activities, and exhibited hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility by in vitro experiment. In conclusion, the developed biodegradable sponge with a simple preparation can act as novel multifunctional sponge for rapid hemostasis and promoting wound healing.