Bacterial cellulose reinforced chitosan-based hydrogel with highly efficient self-healing and enhanced antibacterial activity for wound healing

Biocompatible hydrogels with versatile functions are highly desired for demanding the complicated tissue issues, including irregular site and motional wound. Herein, a bio-based hydrogel with multifunctional properties is designed based on quaternized chitosan and dialdehyde bacterial cellulose. As a functional wound dressing, the hydrogel shows rapid self-healing performance and injectable behaviors due to dynamic Schiff-base interactions and presents superior antibacterial activity against E. coli (gram-negative) and S. aureus (gram-positive). The constructed 3D hydrogel also exhibits proper compressive property, desired water retention capacity. To be mentioned, the hydrogel could mimic the structure of natural extracellular matrix (ECM) in the presence of bacterial cellulose nanofibers. Thus, the biopolymer-based hydrogel shows good biocompatibility in terms of cell proliferation and cell spreading. The prepared chitosan-based hydrogel with self-healing, antibacterial, and low cost will become a promising biomaterial for wound healing.