Wound secretions can indicate the progression of healing through specific types of exudates from capillaries in the surrounding tissues due to increased capillary permeability. As the capillary walls expand, fluid enters the interstitial spaces and into the wound bed. This research incorporates a layered nanocomposite system comprised of a biomimetic hydrogel and conductive polymer layer. The secretions first diffuse through the hydrogel layer comprised of an alginate based system crosslinked with calcium ion and amino acids such as tryptophan and arginine. Structural diversity and intermolecular forces such as π-π stacking and hydrogen bonding have been found to impact the crosslinking of the hydrogel. As amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, their incorporation can therefore significantly improve upon the healing process by increasing adult human dermal fibroblast growth on the wound surface. To further optimize the gels, silver (Ag) and gold (Au) functionalized TiO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles (NPs) were incorporated to enhance antimicrobial properties. Although Ag functionalized gels had high antimicrobial efficiency, Ag leached from the matrix, while the Au NPs provided inconsistent results. Due to drawbacks of the previously mentioned nanoparticles, attention has been shifted to copper (Cu) nanoparticles which lyse the bacterial cell membrane resulting in expulsion of cellular components while also exhibiting high conductivity. Once the hydrogel has reached maximum swelling capacity, the ions that have diffused into the conductive polymer layer increase the current through the polymer when a small voltage is applied. A correlation between swell capacity and conductivity was developed to determine the conductivity threshold needed to illuminate an LED. The conductive polymers of interest include polyaniline (PANI) and polypyrrole (PPy) due to their low cost and facile synthesis. Preliminary data has shown after 150 minutes on a simulated wound, the nanocomposite swelled over 150% and increased in 20% in conductivity.

Synthesis and design of a biomimetic conductive nanocomposite for responsive wound management technology

256th National Meeting (2018)

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