Flexible and antibacterial conductive hydrogels based on silk fibroin/polyaniline/AgNPs for motion sensing and wound healing promotion under electrical stimulation

Abstract

Flexible conductive hydrogel-based electronic skin (E-skin) for simultaneous biotherapeutics and sensing applications is one of the current research directions. In this study, conductive and homogeneous silk fibroin/polyaniline/AgNP complexes (SPAg complexes) were prepared with the assistance of silk fibroin, which greatly optimized the compatibility of PANI with the hydrogel matrix. Then, SPAg was introduced into the covalently crosslinked polymer network to prepare poly(acrylamide-co-sulfobetaine methacrylate) – SPAg hydrogels (labeled as PSPAg hydrogels). The PSPAg hydrogels exhibit good biocompatibility, excellent mechanical properties, superb adhesive performance, and fantastic sensing capabilities. Being connected to a smartphone via a Bluetooth system, the SPAg hydrogel-based E-skin was employed to accurately monitor human movements including vigorous joint movements and subtle facial micro-expressions. Finally, benefiting from the synergistic effect of antimicrobial and exogenous electrical stimulation, through promoting angiogenesis and accelerating collagen production in diabetic wounds, PSPAg E-skin successfully facilitates rapid diabetic wound healing. Therefore, the multifunctional PSPAg hydrogel-based E-skin shows great promise for applications in wearable devices and bioelectronics.