Polydopamine nanoparticle-dotted food gum hydrogel with excellent antibacterial activity and rapid shape adaptability for accelerated bacteria-infected wound healing

Most commonly used wound dressings have severe problems, such as an inability to adapt to wound shape or a lack of antibacterial capacity, affecting their ability to meet the requirements of clinical applications. Here, a nanocomposite hydrogel (XKP) is developed by introducing polydopamine nanoparticles (PDA NPs) into a food gum matrix (XK, consisting of xanthan gum and konjac glucomannan, both FDA-approved food thickening agents) for skin wound healing. In this system, the embedded PDA NPs not only interact with the food gum matrix to form a hydrogel with excellent mechanical strength, but also act as photothermal transduction agents to convert near-infrared laser radiation to heat, thereby triggering bacterial death. Moreover, the XKP hydrogel has high elasticity and tunable water content, enabling it to adapt to the shape of the wound and insulate it, providing a moist environment suitable for healing. In-vivo skin wound healing results clearly demonstrate that XKP can significantly accelerate the healing of wounds by reducing the inflammatory response and promoting vascular reconstruction. In summary, this strategy provides a simple and practical method to overcome the drawbacks of traditional wound dressings, and provides further options when choosing suitable wound healing materials for clinical applications. [Display omitted] •The nanocomposite hydrogel has excellent antibacterial activity and rapid shape adaptability.•The nanocomposite hydrogel possesses excellent blood compatibility and cytocompatibility.•The nanocomposite hydrogel varied with the shape of the wound when it was stretched or pressed.•The nanocomposite hydrogel can significantly improve the healing of bacteria-infected wounds.