A review of polysaccharide-based antifreeze hydrogel for wound dressings: strategy, properties and biological...

The development of antifreeze hydrogels represents a frontier in biomaterials science, addressing the critical need for reliable wound care and tissue engineering solutions in cold environments. This review systematically analyzes recent advances in polysaccharide-based antifreeze hydrogels, focusing on two fundamental strategic paradigms: preventing ice crystal formation and controlling ice crystal growth. The first approach employs the incorporation of inorganic salts, acids, bases, or organic solvents to disrupt water's hydrogen-bonding network and suppress ice nucleation. The second strategy draws inspiration from natural cryoprotection mechanisms, utilizing introduced antifreeze proteins (AFPs) or synthetically constructed hydrophobic/hydrophilic heterostructures to modulate ice crystallization. We critically evaluate how these design principles have yielded hydrogels with enhanced cryoresistance, mechanical integrity, and integrated functionalities, including antimicrobial activity, tissue adhesion, moisturizing capacity, self-healing properties, and electrical conductivity. Furthermore, this review identifies key challenges in the field, such as the inherent trade-offs between cryoprotection and biocompatibility, and proposes innovative design frameworks centered on bioinspired, multi-scale architectures to overcome these limitations. By bridging current material capabilities with clinical demands, this analysis aims to guide the development of next-generation hydrogel platforms for improved wound management and regenerative medicine in low-temperature settings.