A novel high-strength poly(ionic liquid)/PVA hydrogel dressing for antibacterial applications

Antibacterial wound dressings play an important role in wound healing and infection treatment. However, traditional antibacterial wound dressings uncontrollably release antibiotics or silver ions through passive diffusion. The overuse of antibiotics and silver ions may cause drug resistance, side effects, and argyrism, thereby hindering the healing process and creating other health hazards. To overcome these shortcomings, this paper reports an easy approach to synthesize non-releasing antimicrobial Poly(ionic liquid)/PVA hydrogel dressing with high-strength through chemical polymerization and physical cross-linking. The hydrogel dressing exhibited effective antibacterial ability against bacteria (E. coli, S. aureus and B. subtilis), fungus (C. albicans), and mold (Asp. niger, Asp. oryzae, and Rhizopus). Furthermore, in a murine model, the hydrogel dressing efficiently accelerated cutaneous wound healing. After 15 days of healing process, histological tests indicated that this hydrogel dressing can promote the reconstruction of intact epidermis faster than the control. Therefore, this Poly(ionic liquid)/PVA hydrogel has potential as an antibacterial wound-healing dressing.