Self-adhesive and self-healing hydrogel dressings based on quaternary ammonium chitosan and host-guest interacted silk fibroin

Skin is susceptible to varying degrees of injury from external forces, heat, disease, and chemical corrosion. Wound dressings using tissue engineering principles can accelerate skin tissue repair, relieve patient pain, and reduce the formation of scars. In this study, the self-adhesive and self-healing hydrogel dressings based on quaternary ammonium chitosan (QCS), β-cyclodextrin-modified silk fibroin (CD-SF), and adamantane-modified silk fibroin (AD-SF), that was designed. The formed hydrogels not only based on the host-guest interactions between CD-SF as host polymer and AD-SF as guest polymer, also the hydrogen-bonding assembly from QCS was combined. The successful synthesis of QCS, CD-SF, and AD-SF was established using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy. The obtained QCS/CD-SF/AD-SF (QCA) hydrogels displayed self-adhesive, self-healing, and mechanical properties. The hydrogels exhibited antibacterial performance, combating typical Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Further, CCK-8 assay by incubating hydrogels with NIH-3T3 cells and optical microscope inspection of cell morphology indicates the excellent cytocompatibility of the hydrogels. The designed QCA hydrogel with antibacterial properties and biocompatibility have great potential as wound dressings for wound healing treatment.