Polycaprolactone nanofiber-alginate hydrogel interpenetrated skin substitute for regulation of wound-substitute interface

Abstract

The management of the interface between the wound microenvironment and the skin substitute (SSS) is fundamental to wound repair and is an important factor in the regeneration of damaged tissue. Current biomaterials result in unideal repair effect of defective tissue due to limited management of early wound exudate and inability to respond positively to endogenous growth factors. Based on a refined electrospinning process, polycaprolactone fiber - alginate hydrogel interpenetrated network scaffold and subsequent multifunctional modifications serving as SSS was developed. The SSS exhibits excellent water absorption, water vapor permeability rate > 6000 g/m2/day and stretching properties. The amino-terminated hyperbranched polyamide enables the scaffold with both rapid antibacterial and reactive oxygen scavenging properties. Furthermore, fibroblast cells can be proliferated in the scaffold by 3D infiltration (>100 μm). Thus, the scaffolds are expected to be ideal candidates for the repair of different defective skin, especially those with excessive exudate.

Keywords

• Fiber
• Hydrogel
• Interpenetrating network
• Wound microenvironment
• Wound exudate