Recent progress of antibacterial hydrogel materials for biomedical applications

Antibacterial hydrogels, as novel antibacterial materials with three-dimensional porous network structures, have inherent or exogenous antibacterial activity, appropriate mechanical properties, and high biocompatibility for local use, and these hydrogels synthesized through appropriate selection of gel components, crosslinkers, and functional molecules or groups can be used for controlled release of drugs, stimulus-responsive activation, synergistic antibacterial therapy, and so forth. With the progress of the functionalized construction and the performance regulation technology of hydrogels, antibacterial hydrogels have been widely used in biomedical-related fields for drug delivery, cell encapsulation, wound healing, bone repair, tissue engineering, antibacterial coating of medical devices, sensing and health monitoring. Here, we introduce the different types of antibacterial hydrogels from their components, preparation processes, and antibacterial mechanisms to their translational applications in the biomedical field. In addition, the current situation and bottleneck for the application of antibacterial hydrogels in the medical field are discussed, which is beneficial for indicating the future research directions of antibacterial hydrogels in the biomedical field. Antibacterial hydrogels, as novel antibacterial materials with inherent or exogenous antibacterial activity, can be used for local use, controlled drug release, stimulus-responsive activation, synergistic antibacterial therapy, realizing its translational applications in different medical fields.