Photothermal Antibacterial and Antioxidant Fe-Polyphenol Poly(lipoic acid) Patches for Infected Burn Wounds

Infected burn wounds remain challenging to treat because bacterial contamination and oxidative stress can jointly compromise tissue repair. Herein, we report an adhesive supramolecular elastomer patch (PLCTF) constructed from a dynamic poly(α-lipoic acid) network reinforced by Fe-polyphenol coordination and hydrogen bonding. The reversible disulfide chemistry of lipoic acid contributes to network adaptability, resulting in improved mechanical performance and conformal adhesion on moist skin-like biological tissue surfaces. Under 808 nm near-infrared (NIR) irradiation, PLCTF converted the incident NIR light into localized heat, thereby further enhancing PLCTF-mediated antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli under controlled irradiation conditions. In addition, the polyphenolic motifs and lipoic acid-related components provided radical-scavenging activity, as evidenced by chemical radical-scavenging assays and intracellular ROS fluorescence analysis. PLCTF also showed favorable hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility, including after short-term NIR exposure, and promoted fibroblast migration. In an S. aureus-infected burn wound model, PLCTF combined with NIR irradiation accelerated wound closure and improved histological healing outcomes, including enhanced collagen deposition and re-epithelialization. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed increased angiogenesis-associated signals and reduced inflammation-associated marker staining. These results indicate that PLCTF integrates wet-tissue adhesion, ROS-scavenging activity, and NIR-assisted antibacterial function, supporting its promise as an antibiotic-free topical dressing for superficial infected burn wounds.