Poly(aspartic acid) based self-healing hydrogels with antibacterial and light-emitting properties for wound repair

We report here a self-healing hydrogel with antibacterial and light-emitting properties for wound repair. The hydrogel was prepared by reaction of poly(aspartic acid) (PASP) derivatives bearing groups of quaternary ammonium and boronic acid with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Due to the dynamic nature of boronic ester bonds, bacteria-killing activity of quaternary ammonium, and light-emitting activity of phenylboronic ester, the resultant hydrogels featured self-healing, antibacterial and light-emitting properties. The hydrogels show controlled release behavior of mouse epidermal growth factor (mEGF) and the in vivo studies show mEGF loaded hydrogel accelerate the wound repair of model mice and improve skin cell proliferation by prevention of bacterial infections. The PASP based hydrogels would show great promise in bio-applications, in particular for wound dressing and tissue repairing.