Poly(ionic liquid) based Antibacterial Hydrogels for Wound Healing

A novel antibacterial antioxidant hydrogels with good adhesiveness properties was prepared by PVA, polydopamine-coated polyphenolic nanosheets (PDA@NS), Poly(1-glycidyl-3-butylimidazolium salicylate) (PolyGBIMSal) and acrylamide through cryopolymerization. PolyGBIMSal and PDA@NS were introduced in the hydrogel to endow the hydrogel dressing with an antibacterial and antioxidant properties, Respectively. The morphology of the hydrogel was confirmed to be a porous and interconnected network structure by scanning electron microscopy. The resultant hydrogel dressing showed many desirable features, such as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory property, cell adhesiveness, as well as  good protein adsorption . It supports cell proliferation and migration. The hydrogel dressing displayed broad antimicrobal activity against three common wound-infecting pathogenic microbes Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. Furthermore, the results of wound closure and histopathological examinations were evaluated in vivo and demonstrated that these hydrogel wound dressings effectively promote the wound healing process in a full thickness skin defect model. The results indicated that the antibacterial hydrogel had potential application in wound dressing.