MXene-Based MnZnO Nanocomposites for Enhanced Antibacterial Activity and Cutaneous Wound Healing

Development of therapeutic platforms that meet the multifunctional requirements in wound healing is required due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the need for rapid healing with efficient therapeutic materials. While MXene has proven to be a promising 2D material for biomedical applications because of its superior conductivity, abundant surface functional groups and biocompatibility, its biological performance can be further enhanced by designing nanocomposites. In this study, a novel MnZnO@MXene nanocomposite was synthesized by integrating Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles with MXene nanosheets to achieve synergistically enhanced antimicrobial activity and wound healing performance. The material was characterized using XRD, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, UV-Visible spectroscopy, SEM, EDX, elemental mapping, and XPS, confirming its successful formation and structure integrity. In addition to demonstrating potent antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, the MnZnO@MXene nanocomposite showed inhibition zones of 22,19 and 18 mm against Escherichia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus while the standard antibiotic Gentamicin showed zones of inhibition of 16 mm against Escherichia coli, 15 mm against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and 14 mm against Staphylococcus aureus under similar test conditions. Unlike the previously reported MXene-based wound healing systems, the addition of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of Mn-doped ZnO creates a multifunctional platform for wound management. The results from an in vivo study using an excisional skin wound model showed that wound healing was accelerated (95.19% wound closure at day 10) compared with the negative control (66.76%) and tissue morphology was improved. Furthermore, the carrageenan-induced model of acute paw edema showed significant anti-inflammatory activity by reducing paw thickness from 6.96 mm to 4.39 mm at 24 h, comparable to the standard reference drug. The results indicate that the obtained MnZnO@MXene nanocomposites could serve as a potential platform for antibacterial and wound healing applications.