Metal–phenolic network-based polydopamine@Cu within a polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel film for improved infected wound healing through antibacterial and pro-angiogenesis activity

Abstract

An ideal wound dressing should not only have flexibility, adequate mechanical strength and adhesion ability but also possess antibacterial ability and biofunction. Herein, we prepared polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based hydrogel membranes with copper ion-loaded polydopamine (PDA@Cu) to simultaneously achieve antibacterial and pro-angiogenesis functions in a wound dressing. We prepared three porous PVA/PDA@Cu hydrogels with different concentrations of copper ion, namely PVA/PDA@Cu-1, PVA/PDA@Cu-2 and PVA/PDA@Cu-3. Although the incorporation of PDA@Cu slightly decreased the compressive mechanical strength, the tensile property of the PVA/PDA@Cu significantly increased, thereby enhancing the flexibility of the PVA hydrogel film. The hydrogel membranes had good biocompatibility, except PVA/PDA@Cu-3, which had toxic effects because of a high Cu concentration. The antibacterial effect of the membrane increased with the increasing Cu concentration. Owing to the photothermal property of PDA, the PVA/PDA@Cu hydrogel membranes show synergistic antibacterial ability. Furthermore, the PVA/PDA@Cu-1 and PVA/PDA@Cu-2 hydrogel membranes had pro-angiogenesis property. Results of in vivo experiments showed that PVA/PDA@Cu-2 achieved satisfactory repair outcomes for the bacterial infected wound with abundant collagen deposition and formation of neo-vessels. These results suggest that the PVA/PDA@Cu hydrogel membrane serves as a better platform for regeneration of the infected skin and thus will have a clinical application in the future.

Keywords

• Polyvinyl alcohol
• Polydopamine
• Copper ion
• Wound dressing
• Antibacterial property