Inorganic-Organic Interfacial Engineering of Earth-Abundant Phytoliths for Multifunctional Hemostat

The development of multifunctional hemostatic agents from earth-abundant natural silicon-based minerals represents a sustainable strategy for biomedical applications. However, a key physicochemical challenge lies in their inherent phase complexity and structural heterogeneity, which hinder predictable integration of biofunctionality. In this work, we present an inorganic-organic interfacial engineering approach to fabricate a high-performance hemostat based on phytoliths. By leveraging synergistic noncovalent interactions with functional organic molecules, such as poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), polyethylenimine (PEI), polylysine (EPL), and berberine (BER), we successfully incorporated hemostatic, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties into a unified platform. The resulting multifunctional hemostat demonstrates excellent biocompatibility, rapid blood-triggered powder-to-hydrogel transition, and outstanding water absorption capacity. In a mouse liver hemorrhage model, the engineered phytolith-based hemostat achieved a remarkably short hemostasis time of 54.83 ± 4.06 s and minimal blood loss of only 107.97 ± 5.19 mg, significantly outperforming unmodified phytoliths and rivaling a commercial zeolite-based control. This work establishes a physicochemical rationale for repurposing natural mineral resources toward advanced multifunctional hemostatic applications.