High-water-absorbing calcium alginate fibrous scaffold fabricated by microfluidic spinning for use in chronic wound dressings

Abstract

More and more water-absorbing wound dressings have been studied since moist wound-healing treatment can effectively promote the healing of wounds. In this work, we introduce a novel method to produce improved wound dressings with high-water-absorbance. A high-water-absorbing calcium alginate (Ca-Alg) fibrous scaffold was fabricated simply by microfluidic spinning and centrifugal reprocessing. The structure and physical properties of the scaffold were characterized, and its water-absorbing, cytotoxicity properties and other applicability to wound dressings were comprehensively evaluated. Our results indicate that this material possesses high water-absorbing properties, is biocompatible, and has a 3D structure that mimics the extracellular matrix, while Ca-Alg fibers loaded with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) exhibit broad-spectrum antibacterial activities; these properties meet the requirements for promoting the healing of chronic wounds and are widely applicable to wound dressings.