A Dual Self-Healable Hydrogel based on Salep/Poly(vinyl alcohol) with Excellent Adhesiveness for Wound Dressing

Designing wound dressing hydrogels with outstanding remedial effects, self-healing and appropriate mechanical properties has great applied importance in healthcare, particularly for healing skin wounds. Additionally, excellent tissue adhesiveness is essential for the hydrogel to combine with wound tissue. Here, an ultratough and self-healing double-network (DN) hydrogel based on Salep/Poly (vinyl alcohol) with superior tissue adhesiveness and cell affinity is prepared for healing skin damage. The self-healing capability of the hydrogel is gained via hydrogen bonds and Schiff-base cross-linking between salep dialdehyde (SDA) and ethylene diamine-functionalized salep (SEDA) chains. Also, the reversible interactions between poly (vinyl alcohol) and borax to make stable mechanical structure and self-healing ability will effectively help. By combining the PVA/borax and dynamic Schiff-base in one system, a novel hydrogel with excellent self-healing ability, high tensile strength, and ultrastretchability will be achieved, which are desirable properties for wound dressing applications. we show the practical utility of the hydrogel via both in vitro and in vivo experiments

Keywords:

self-healing hydrogel , tissue adhesiveness , wound dressing