Flexible biomimetic hollow Al2O3 fibers for safe and effective hemostasis

Abstract

Uncontrolled hemorrhage due to trauma and post-traumatic fibrin dysfunction is a significant cause of death worldwide, and an effective hemostatic material is needed to achieve safe and portable hemostasis in situation of both healthy blood coagulation and fibrin dysfunction. Besides, it is desirable to develop a hemostat material that is active despite long-term storage at harsh temperatures to meet the need of using in harsh condition. Here, biomimetic “cotton-like” hollow Al2O3 fibers (HFs) are fabricated, whose clotting strategy is incompletely dependent on the physiological coagulation mechanisms, to address the above challenges. The HFs, with hollow porous 3-dimensional (3D) structure, large specific surface area and negatively Zeta potential, can not only concentrate blood components, activate intrinsic coagulation pathway, and promote the activation of platelets and fibrin but entrap anticoagulated blood components in a network of HFs to form HFs-based clots with similar morphological characteristics to fibrin-based clots even after exposure to harsh environments. The application of HFs can accelerate hemostasis as compared to gauze, cotton, and hemostatic sponge. The outstanding hemostatic efficacy, in combination with biocompatibility, thermal robustness, portable application and simple fabrication make HFs a promising hemostatic agent for effective and cheap hemorrhage control.