An injectable metal nanoparticle containing cellulose derivative-based hydrogels: Evaluation of antibacterial and in vitro-vivo wound healing activity in children with burn injuries

The preparation of hydrogels for wound healing properties with high antibacterial activities and good biosafety concurrently can be relatively challenging. For addressing these issues, we report on the synthesis and characterisation of a nanocomposite hydrogel dressing by introducing the silver nanoparticles in hydroxypropyl methylcellulose-hydroxyapatite scaffold hydrogel (HMC-HA/AgNPs). The different concentrations of AgNPs in HMC-HA/AgNPs hydrogels were confirmed by swelling ratio, degradation, and gelatin time. The synthesised HMC-HA/AgNPs hydrogels were further characterised using the UV-visible, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrum, and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that the novel HMC-HA/AgNPs hydrogel exhibited a porous 3D network and high mechanical properties because of the inter-molecular and intra-molecular interactions. The AgNPs give the HMC-HA hydrogels excellent antibacterial activities against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, without any chemical reductant and cross-linking agent required endows the hydrogel high biocompatibility. More importantly, HMC-HA/AgNPs effectively repaired wound defects in mice models, and wound healing reached 94.5 ± 1.4% within 16 days. The HMC-HA hydrogel with AgNPs showed excellent antimicrobial activity and burn wound healing. Therefore, these HMC-HA/AgNPs hydrogels have great potential as an injectable hydrogel for wound healing activity in children with burn injuries.