Preparation and evaluation of Bletilla striata polysaccharide/graphene oxide composite hemostatic sponge

Uncontrolled bleeding is an important cause of military and civilian casualties. GO has received more attention in the field of hemostasis. However, pure GO has various limitation in application due to its potential thrombosis, hemolytic and cytotoxicity. Herein, we present a simple, rapid and low-cost method to combine GO and natural polysaccharides by hydrogen bonding to prepare a new material Bletilla striata polysaccharide/graphene oxide composite sponge (BGCS). The BGCS was successfully synthesized and characterized by SEM, IR, RAMAN, XRD and Zeta potential analyzer analysis. The BGCS exhibited favorable biocompatibility. Besides, the porosity of BGCS was higher than 90% and showed good water absorption capacity. The results of whole blood coagulation evaluation showed that the BGCS can promote blood coagulation within 30 s without anticoagulant, showing excellent hemostatic effect. Further coagulation mechanism studies indicated that the surface of the BGCS possessed a high charge (-27.3 ± 0.9 mV) and showed strong platelet stimulation, the BGCS can also induce red blood cell aggregation, accelerate fibrin formation and accelerate blood coagulation. Therefore, the BGCS can stop bleeding within 50 s in rat-tail amputation models. The BGCS provides a new perspective for the safe application of GO in the field of trauma hemostasis.