Beyond commercial hemostats: Montmorillonite-enriched alginate sponge for rapid hemostasis and wound infection prevention

Despite advances in conventional hemostatic technologies, uncontrolled arterial bleeding and secondary infection remain clinical challenges and leading causes of trauma-induced fatalities. Hence, developing hemostatic materials that rapidly form resilient physical obstruction, trigger coagulation cascades, and combat bacterial infection is of importance. Herein, we engineered a multifunctional ultra-porous Alg/MMT sponge derived from alginate and enriched with montmorillonite (MMT) nanosheets serving as bioactive agents, utilizing gas-foaming, ionic crosslinking, and lyophilization processes. The sponge exhibited antibacterial effectiveness targeting S. aureus and E. coli , as evidenced by inhibition zone, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) assays. The fabricated Alg/MMT sponge demonstrated biocompatibility by maintaining high cell viability and promoting cell proliferation, as confirmed by MTT and DAPI assays. In-vitro evaluations revealed enhanced efficacy over EquiSpon® in blood clotting (9.15%), adherence of erythrocytes (94.50%) and platelets (87.30%), as well as clotting time of 19 s (P-value < 0.001). Through a femoral artery trauma model in rats, the Alg/MMT sponge delivered a hemostatic effect, reducing blood loss to 0.75 g and achieving hemostasis in 32.66 s—representing a 7.5-fold improvement compared to EquiSpon® (P-value < 0.001). Together, these characteristics highlight the Alg/MMT sponge as a reliable hemostatic agent for clinical environments.