An in-situ self-gelation photothermal alginate-based sponge dressing for rapid and effective wound management

General wound management requires innovative strategies that simultaneously promote effective healing while minimizing patient discomfort and reducing the risk of infection. Herein, we report a photothermal self-gelation sponge dressing based on 3-Aminobenzeneboronic acid (BA) -modified sodium alginate doped with polydopamine nanoparticles (Alg-BA@PDA) that promotes wound repair. This in-situ self-gelation sponge ensures a precise fit to the wound contours within 5 s of rapid fluid absorption, significantly enhancing the therapeutic effect. Dynamically reversible borate ester bonds are formed between the sodium alginate network and PDA-NPs, which enhances the mechanical robustness of the sponge dressing and its adaptability to wound irregularity while maintaining good biocompatibility. Moreover, the sponge dressing shows good antibacterial activity and ROS scavenging capacity, attributed to the photothermal effect of doped PDA-NPs. The RT-qPCR testing and immunofluorescent staining revealed that the Alg-BA@PDA significantly enhances angiogenesis by upregulating the expression of VEGF, HIF-1α, bFGF, eNOs, and CD31 in endothelial cells, and inhibits the inflammatory response by downregulating the expression of IL-6, IL-1β, iNOS, TNF-α, and CD68, all of which promotes wound healing in a mice full-thickness skin wound model in vivo. This outstanding ability makes the self-gelation sponge an ideal dressing to accelerate wound healing with wide potential applications in biomaterials and clinical treatment.