Recent advances in woundcare is targeted towards developing active-dressings, where multiple components are combined to provide a suitable environment for rapid healing. The aim of the present research is to study the preparation of biomimic composite wound dressings by the grafting of hydrogel on silk fibroin fabric. The swelling ability of hydrogel grafted silk fibroin fabric was optimized by changing the initiator concentration. In order to impart antimicrobial properties, these dressing are further coated sono-chemically with zinc oxide nanoparticles. The water vapor transmission rate of the prepared samples was measured. The conformation of silk fibroin proteins after grafting with hydrogel was also confirmed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The morphology of the zinc oxide-coated silk fibroin fabric and hydrogel-coated silk fibroin was studied using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The antimicrobial activity of the zinc oxide-coated samples was studied against E coli. The cytocompatibility of the prepared dressing materials were evaluated using L929 fibroblast cells. MTT assay and phase contrast microscopic studies showed that the adherence, growth, and proliferation of the L929 fibroblast cells that were seeded on zinc oxide nanoparticles on the functionalized hydrogel-coated silk fibroin dressing was significantly higher than that of pure silk fibroin due to the highly porous, bio-mimic structure that allowed ease of passage of nutrients, growth factors, metabolites, and the exchange of gases which is beneficial for successful regeneration of damaged tissues. The expression of TNF-α and IL-2 were not significantly higher than that of control. The proposed composite dressing would be a promising material for wound dressing and regenerative medicine but in order to prove the efficacy of these materials, more in vivo experiments and clinical tests are required to be conducted in future.

A calix[4]arene, in which two of the phenol functions are replaced by pyrazole units, [H2(bpzCal)], was investigated as a ligand for Cu+, Ag+ and Au+ ions. Using [Cu(MeCN)4]BF4 and AgSbF6 as the precursors, complexes [MH2(bpzCal)]X (M = Cu, X = BF4; M = Ag, X = SbF6) were formed, where the calixarene ligands adopt a 1,3‐alternate structure and the metal ions are coordinated linearly by the two pyrazolyl donors. [CuH2(bpzCal)]BF4 displayed a – for copper(I) complexes – unusual stability towards O2, which is due to the steric protection of the CuI center. By contrast a dinuclear copper(I) complex [Cu2(bpzCal)] that was obtained through treatment of [H2(bpzCal)] with two equivalents of Cu(HMDS) is rather sensitive towards O2. The preparation of a gold complex required the employment of a gold precursor, which contains one labile and one stabilizing neutral ligand, namely [(PPh3)Au(NCMe)]SbF6, which led to the formation of [(PPh3)AuH2(bpzCal)]SbF6. In this complex [H2(bpzCal)] acts only as a monodentate ligand for the gold center. Taken together, the results demonstrate the potential of [H2(bpzCal)] in providing rather different coordination spheres for metal ions.

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