Fabrication of antimicrobial chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol/Cu2O nanoparticles/polydopamine-montmorillonite hydrogel for potential wound dressing

Traditional wound dressings lack antibacterial properties and may cause wound damage during dressing changes, impairing healing. Therefore, single-function dressings cannot meet the multifaceted requirements of modern wound healing processes. This study successfully prepared a Cu 2 O/PDA-MMT by loading cuprous oxide nanoparticles (Cu 2 O NPs) onto polydopamine (PDA)-modified montmorillonite (MMT), which was then incorporated with chitosan (CS)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) via a one-step blending method to fabricate CS/PVA/Cu 2 O/PDA-MMT hydrogels. Characterization techniques including XRD, FTIR, TG, and SEM confirmed the successful preparation of the material, while systematic evaluation demonstrated its physicochemical properties such as gel fraction, porosity, and mechanical performance. Antimicrobial experiments, cell compatibility tests, mouse tail-amputation hemorrhage models, and full-thickness skin wound infection models demonstrated that the 1% CS/PVA/Cu 2 O/PDA-MMT hydrogel not only exhibited over 95% antimicrobial inhibition rates against both test bacterial strains but also possessed excellent biocompatibility. It significantly reduced blood loss in rat tail hemorrhage models. When treating full-thickness skin wounds, this hydrogel effectively controlled infection, accelerated healing, achieved a wound healing rate exceeding 97% by day 12, and promoted tissue regeneration. These outstanding properties position it as a wound dressing material with significant clinical application potential.