Sprayable Ti3C2 MXene hydrogel for wound healing and drug release system

Hyeongtaek Park; Jeong-Uk Kim; Soojin Kim; Nathaniel S Hwang; Hwan D Kim

doi:10.1016/j.mtbio.2023.100881

Sprayable Ti₃C₂ MXene hydrogel for wound healing and drug release system

Mater Today Bio. 2023 Nov 28:23:100881. doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2023.100881. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Hyeongtaek Park¹, Jeong-Uk Kim², Soojin Kim¹, Nathaniel S Hwang^{2

3

4}, Hwan D Kim^{1

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of IT Convergence (BK21 FOUR), Korea National University of Transportation, Chungju, 27469, Republic of Korea.
² School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Institute of Chemical Process, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
³ BioMax/N-Bio Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Institute of Engineering Research, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Korea National University of Transportation, Chungju, 27469, Republic of Korea.
⁶ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Korea National University of Transportation, Chungju, 27469, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Wound healing is a critical process that facilitates the body's recovery from injuries and helps prevent infections, thereby maintaining overall tissue and organ functionality. However, delayed wound healing owing to various factors can lead to bacterial infections and secondary complications. In this study, a ciprofloxacin (CIP)-loaded MXene/sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel was fabricated to inhibit bacterial infections and enhance wound healing. The hydrogel was formulated in a sprayable state by blending CIP-loaded MXene (CIP-MX) with SA. This hydrogel was found to exhibit excellent photothermal conversion capability and biocompatibility under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation. In addition, the hydrogel enabled controlled drug release based on NIR irradiation, ultimately enabling improved antibacterial activity. Based on the in vitro and in vivo experiments, the CIP-loaded MXene/SA hydrogel (CIP-MX@Gel) accelerated wound healing. Overall, the CIP-MX@Gel has excellent potential as an effective wound healing material.

Keywords: Antibacterial; Drug delivery; Sprayable hydrogel; Ti3C2 MXene; Wound healing.