Flexible Wound Patches Based on MXene/Quercetin-Waterborne Polyurethane Composites

Abstract

Traditional wound patches are primarily designed to provide protection, maintain moisture, and foster a healing environment. However, current flexible wound patches face challenges related to self-healing capabilities, antimicrobial performance, and stable sensing functions. To address these challenges, this study harnesses the synergistic potential of aqueous MXene nanosheets and quercetin-modified waterborne polyurethane (Que-WPU) to fabricate an innovative film patch. The film patch exhibits stable adhesion to human skin and shows significant inhibitory effects on Staphylococcus aureus due to the natural antibacterial agent quercetin, with a zone of inhibition that reaches 4 mm. Furthermore, the antibacterial efficiency is further enhanced to 100% because of the excellent photothermal properties of MXene under near-infrared laser irradiation. Meanwhile, the film patch possesses stable scavenging activity against DPPH and ABTS + free radicals and exhibits good blood compatibility and cytocompatibility with an in vitro hemolysis rate of 4.7% and negligible toxicity to HaCaT cells. It also displays a robust self-healing performance, completely repairing scratches within 2 min. Additionally, the film patch can detect clear and stable sensing signals under continuous human body part movement cycles, with sensing sensitivity (Gauge Factor) of 2.1. In summary, these results underscore the immense potential of MXene/Que-WPU composite materials in wound healing and tissue engineering applications.