A tunable multifunctional hydrogel with balanced adhesion, toughness and self-healing ability prepared by photopolymerization under green LED irradiation for wound dressing

Hydrogels have been widely used in wound dressings due to their excellent moisture retention and biocompatibility. In this study, a poly(N-[tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl]acrylamide-co-acrylamide) (P(THMA-co-AAM)) hydrogel was rapidly prepared by photopolymerization under green LED irradiation within 5 s. The P(THMA-co-AAM) hydrogel exhibits excellent mechanical properties, self-healing properties, adhesion ability and prominent biocompatibility. Moreover, the tunable multifunctional hydrogel (P-QCS) prepared by adding quaternary chitosan to the P(THMA-co-AAM) hydrogel exhibits attractive antibacterial properties. Notably, our strategy provides a universal platform to combine various functional substances to generate multifunctional hydrogels for the application of hydrogels in wound dressing.