A microporous hemostatic and antibacterial multifunctional composite foam wound dressing derived from oxidized bacterial cellulose

Pure bacterial cellulose dressings exhibit limited therapeutic outcomes in skin wound management due to inadequate fluid absorption capacity, poor antimicrobial efficacy, and lack of bioactive components. To address these challenges, this study developed an innovative microporous multifunctional composite foam dressing (pOBC/CP/HA) via a novel in situ gas formation strategy applied to oxidized bacterial cellulose (OBC). This methodology generated microporous OBC (pOBC) by inducing bubble formation through a chemical reaction. TEMPO-mediated carboxylation and structurally regulated pOBC matrix facilitated the homogeneous incorporation of cationic chitosan particles (CP) and anionic hyaluronic acid (HA), yielding a composite material with synergistically enhanced performance. Comprehensive characterization studies revealed that the pOBC microporous structures played a pivotal role in determining the functionality of pOBC/CP/HA. Compared with OBC-based foams, pOBC/CP/HA showed significantly enhanced mechanical strength, fluid absorption, antimicrobial activity, and biofunctionality. The microporous composite dressing effectively promoted hemostasis, inflammation modulation, angiogenesis, and wound closure in a rat model. In vivo results demonstrated that treated wounds achieved an 82.9 % closure ratio by day 7 and attained complete re-epithelialization within 14 days. This study demonstrates the capability to enhance composite performance by manipulating the microstructure of OBCs and systematically elucidates the role of structural parameter differences in regulating biological responses.