Alginate hydrogel dressings for advanced wound management

Wound healing is a complicated and continuous process affected by several factors, and it needs an appropriate surrounding to achieve accelerated healing. At present, various wound dressings are used for wound management, such as fiber, sponge, hydrogel, foam, hydrocolloid and so on. Hydrogels can provide mechanical support and moist environment for wounds, and are widely used in biomedical field. Alginate is a natural linear polysaccharide derived from brown algae or bacteria, consisting of repeating units of β-1,4-linked D-mannuronic acid (M) and L-guluronic acid (G) in different ratios. It is widely used in biomedical and engineering fields due to its good biocompatibility and liquid absorption capacity. Alginate-based hydrogels have been used in wound dressing, tissue engineering, and drug delivery applications for decades. In this review, we summarize the recent approaches in the chemical and physical preparation and the application of alginate hydrogels in wound dressings.