All-natural injectable hydrogel with self-healing and antibacterial properties for wound dressing

An ideal wound dressing is highly desired for the repair of chronic wounds which should provide a moist environment, self-healing, antibacterial properties etc. Here, a novel injectable antibacterial chitosan hydrogel with good self-healing and improved mechanical properties has been prepared by dialdehyde bacterial cellulose (DABC) nanofibers as the non-toxic biocrosslinker. It is the first time to prepare the all-natural chitosan hydrogels by using ascorbic acid (VC) as solvent to dissolve chitosan and the natural fiber DABC as reinforcing and crosslinking agent. Then, the disadvantage of the use of acetic acid in the medical field was overcome and the other toxic crosslinking agents were abandoned. Accordingly, this work provides a new strategy towards fabricating the self-healing hydrogel with injectable and antibacterial properties. The new multifunctional hydrogels demonstrate strong potentiality in wound dressings or tissue engineering.