Multifunctional chitosan/dopamine/diatom-biosilica composite beads for rapid blood coagulation

Abstract Uncontrollable bleeding is the main cause of death in wars and accidents. The development of emergency material for rapid hemostatic can effectively reduce bleeding-related death. The commercial hemostatic materials available in the market are difficult to meet requirements of rapid hemostasis, good biocompatibility, low cost and ease of use. In this study, we developed chitosan/dopamine/diatom-biosilica composite beads (CDDs) for rapid hemostasis with good biocompatibility. CDDs were prepared by combining chitosan with diatom-biosilica (DB) using dopamine as bio-glue. The porous internal structure of CDDs led to rapid and large amount of water absorption, which contributed to the rapid hemostasis (83 s, 22% of the control group). The hemolytic rate of CDDs was less than 5% and cell viability was above 80%, confirming its good biocompatibility. All the above results indicated that CDDs had potential to develop into safe and non-toxic hemostatic material.