Vanillin cross-linked hydrogel membranes interfacial reinforced by carbon nitride nanosheets for enhanced antibacterial activity and mechanical properties

Biopolymer based hydrogels are highly adaptable, compatible and have shown great potential in biological tissues in biomedical applications. However, the development of bio-based hydrogels with high strength and effective antibacterial activity remains challenging. Herein, a series of vanillin-cross-linked chitosan nanocomposite hydrogel interfacially reinforced by g-C3N4 nanosheet carrying starch-caped Ag NPs were prepared for wound healing applications. The study aimed to enhance the strength, sustainability and control release ability of the fabricated membranes. Starch-caped silver nanoparticles were incorporated to enhance the anti-bacterial activities The fabricated membranes were assessed using various characterization techniques such as FT-IR, XRD, SEM, mechanical testing, Gel fraction and porosity alongside traditional biomedical tests i.e., swelling percentage, moisture retention ability, water vapor transmission rate, oxygen permeability, anti-bacterial activity and drug-release of the fabricated membranes. The mechanical strength reached as high as 25.9 ± 0.24 MPa for the best optimized sample. The moisture retention lied between 87%–89%, gel fraction 80%–85%, and water vapor transmission up to 104 ± 1.9 g m–2 h–1 showing great properties of the fabricated membrane. Swelling percentage surged to 225% for blood while porosity fluctuated between 44% ± 2.1% and 52.5% ± 2.3%. Oxygen permeability reached up to 8.02 mg/L showing the breathable nature of fabricated membranes. The nanocomposite membrane shown excellent antibacterial activity for both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria with a maximum zone of inhibition 30 ± 0.25 mm and 36.23 ± 0.23 mm respectively. Furthermore, nanoparticles maintained sustainable release following non-fickian diffusion. The fabricated membrane demonstrated the application of inorganic filler to enhance the strength of biopolymer hydrogel with superior properties. These results envisage the potential of synthesized membrane to be used as wound dressing, artificial skin and load-bearing scaffolds.