Continuous and controllable electro-fabrication of antimicrobial copper-alginate dressing for infected wounds treatment

The contamination of chronic wound with bacteria especially methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is considered as the major factor interferencing normal wound healing. There still remain great challenges in developing safe and effective wound dressings with wide-spectrum antibacterial functions. Alginate hydrogel is a common dressing for wound treatment. Copper is one of the trace elements in human body with inherent antibacterial activity. Traditional methods for preparing a structure-controlled copper-alginate antibacterial matrix are difficult however, due to the fast and uncontrolled gelation between alginate and metal ions. In this work, we report an electrodeposition method for rapid fabrication of copper cross-linked alginate antibacterial films (Cu2+-Alg) with controlled structure and copper content, which is relied on an electrical signal controlled release of copper ions from the reaction of insoluble salt Cu2(OH)2CO3 and the generated protons via water electrolysis on anode. The results prove that the physical structure and chemical composition of the electrodeposited Cu2+-Alg films can be continuously modulated by the imposed charges during electrodeposition. In vitro tests demonstrate the film has Cu2+ content-dependent bactericidal activities. Film’s cytocompatibility is well controlled by the imposed charges for Cu2+-Alg fabrication. The MRSA infected wound model in vivo also indicates that Cu2+-Alg film can effectively eliminate bacterial infection and suppress host inflammatory responses. We believe this study demonstrates a convenient and controllable strategy to fabricate alginate antibacterial dressings with potential applications for infected wound treatment. More broadly, our work reveals electrodeposition is a general and simple platform to design alginate films with versatile functions.