A self-elastic chitosan sponge reinforced with lauric acid-modified quaternized chitosan and attapulgite to treat noncompressible hemorrhage and facilitate wound healing

The development of self-elastic sponges with enhanced hemostatic and antibacterial properties to treat noncompressible hemorrhage and facilitate wound healing remains challenging. Herein, we prepared a chitosan sponge reinforced with lauric acid-modified quaternized chitosan (LQC) and attapulgite, features a porous structure, high self-elasticity, and rapid shape recovery. The incorporation of LQC conferred the sponge with an enhanced capacity to promote the adhesion, aggregation, and activation of blood cells, and resistance to infection by Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; the incorporation of attapulgite enhanced the hydrophilicity and mechanical strength of the sponge, and its ability to activate the intrinsic and extrinsic coagulation pathways. The sponge exhibited superior hemostatic capacity to commercial gauze and gelatin sponge when applied to rat and rabbit liver perforation wounds. Additionally, the wound healing efficacy of our biocompatible and biosafe sponge was higher than that of commercial 3 M Tegaderm dressing. Our sponge exhibits significant potential in noncompressible hemorrhage treatment, bacterial infection prevention, and wound healing promotion.