Bioactive hydrogel (ZIF-8@CMC-PVA-SA) as dressing materials for wound healing applications

Skin wounds are a major medical challenge, requiring dressings that maintain moisture to promote healing in the complex wound environment. In this work, composite hydrogels were developed by crosslinking CMC, PVA, and SA with TEOS using a straightforward blending method. The composite hydrogels integrated with ZiF-8 into the polymeric matrix were characterized using advanced techniques, including FTIR, XRD, SEM-EDX, and AFM. The physicochemical behavior was evaluated by swelling in different media (electrolyte (with different concentrations), Aqueous and PBS (with different pH)), wetting, and biodegradation in PBS media at 37 °C. The hydrogels with maximum ZiF-8 have maximum swelling in aqueous (1692.54 ± 7.2 %), PBS (1409.67 ± 9.5 %), and electrolyte NaCl (954.4 ± 9.3 %), and CaCl 2 (975.95 ± 4.5 %)) media. Cell viability, proliferation, and morphology were used to examine the cytocompatibility behavior against fibroblast (3t3) cell lines. The hydrogel sample SCP-3 exhibited maximum cell viability and proliferation with mature cell morphology. The results showed that the fabricated composite hydrogels are pH-responsive and biocompatible. Collectively, the fabricated composite hydrogels exhibit high potential as bioactive, pH-responsive wound dressings, ideal for managing wound exudate in healing applications. The graphical abstract illustrates the synthesis of the composite hydrogels from sodium alginate, carboxymethyl cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, and ZiF-8, which have been incorporated and crosslinked with TEOS. These were then lyophilized with a freeze drier to have porous composite hydrogels.