Nanocellulose /sodium alginate porous foams for enhanced wound healing and antibacterial properties

Maintaining a moderate moist microenvironment and establishing an effective antimicrobial barrier are of great significance for promoting wound healing. However, traditional dressing materials often encounter bacterial infections, and the system design defects lead to weak moisturizing ability, and the rapid water evaporation rate leads to premature dehydration of the wound, which is not conducive to wound healing. The synergy between the microscopic wettability control and the macrostructure design of the material is crucial. In this work, nanocelluloses (TCNCs) /sodium alginate (SA) were used as substrates for porous materials due to their good biocompatibility and wettability. The internal structure of TCNCs/SA were optimized by changing the ratio of SA to TCNCs. The excellent pore structure makes the samples have better water retention ability and moisture vapor transmittance (water retention ratio = 20.9, MVTR = 1412.37 g/m²/d). Besides, the loading of chlorhexidine acetate (CHX) can effectively improve the antibacterial properties of TCNCs/SA and the antibacterial diameter against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus is >10 mm. Finally, the TNSX sample caused considerable acceleration at the SD rats skin excisions healing. The results illustrate that the TCNCs/SA porous foams have great potential application in medical dressings.