Carboxymethyl konjac glucomannan - crosslinked chitosan sponges for wound dressing

In this paper, carboxymethyl konjac glucomannan (CMKGM) was obtained by carboxyl modification of konjac glucomannan. Then CMKGM and chitosan (CS) were crosslinked and freeze-dried to prepare CMKGM/CS composite sponges with different proportions. The structure and micromorphology of CMKGM/CS sponges were investigated by FTIR spectroscopy and SEM. The SEM results showed that the pore structure of the composite sponge gradually increased with the increase of CMKGM content. To assess the applicability of CMKGM/CS composite sponges as wound dressing, the swelling behavior, water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), biocompatibility (cytotoxicity and hemolysis) were analyzed. The results indicated that CMKGM/CS composite sponges possessed high swelling ratio, proper WVTR and good biocompatibility, which might accelerate tissue regeneration. Meanwhile, in vivo experiments demonstrated that CMKGM/CS composite sponges could effectively heal full-layer wound of skin defects of male ICR mice.