Issue 18, 2017

Wound dressing application of pH-sensitive carbon dots/chitosan hydrogel

Abstract

Monitoring the pH of wounds has been recognized as an essential diagnosis factor during the healing process. This study presents a novel chitosan–carbon dots nanocomposite with dual applications as an antibacterial and pH-sensitive nano-agent for enhancing wound healing and monitoring the pH at the same time. The carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized using ammonium hydrogen citrate under hydrothermal conditions. The chitosan-based nanocomposites with different concentrations of CDs were fabricated through a solvent casting method. After detailed material characterization of the CDs and chitosan/CDs nanocomposites, the antibacterial activities and cell viability were thoroughly investigated against the Staphylococcus aureus bacterial species and L929 fibroblastic cell lines, respectively. The results indicated that the chitosan/CDs nanocomposites were biocompatible and nontoxic with effective antibacterial properties. The mechanical properties of the chitosan/CDs nanocomposite were improved via the addition of the CDs. The results show that the preparation of the chitosan/CDs nanocomposite at a concentration of 1.0 wt% carbon dots possessed the best optical, biological and mechanical characteristics. Furthermore, the results reveal that the proposed chitosan/CDs nanocomposites had outstanding pH-sensitive properties. According to the strong antibacterial properties and nontoxicity, as well as outstanding pH-sensitive nature, the proposed chitosan/CDs nanocomposites, as a smart materiel, have great potential applications in tissue engineering. Furthermore, the optimized ratio of CDs/chitosan nanocomposite was used as an antibacterial wound healing bandage and in vivo experiments were carried out on three groups of rats. The results showed that the CDs/chitosan nanocomposite not only possessed high pH sensitivity, but could also improve the wound healing process due to its antibacterial properties.

Graphical abstract: Wound dressing application of pH-sensitive carbon dots/chitosan hydrogel

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 Okt 2016
Accepted
13 Jan 2017
First published
07 Feb 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 10638-10649

Wound dressing application of pH-sensitive carbon dots/chitosan hydrogel

M. Omidi, A. Yadegari and L. Tayebi, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 10638 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA25340G

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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