Highly Elastic and Strain Sensing Corn Protein Electrospun Fibers for Monitoring of Wound Healing

Abstract

Due to the lack of sufficient elasticity and strain sensing capability, protein-based ultrafine fibrous tissue engineering scaffolds, though favorable for skin repair, can hardly fulfill on-spot wound monitoring during healing. Herein, we designed highly elastic corn protein ultrafine fibrous smart scaffolds with a three-layer structure for motion tracking at an unpackaged state. The densely cross-linked protein networks were efficiently established by introducing a highly reactive epoxy and provided the fiber substrates with wide-range stretchability (360% stretching range) and ultrahigh elasticity (99.91% recovery rate) at a wet state. With the assistance of the polydopamine bonding layer, a silver conductive sensing layer was built on the protein fibers and endowed the scaffolds with wide strain sensing range (264%), high sensitivity (gauge factor up to 210.55), short response time (<70 ms), reliable cycling stability, and long-lasting duration (up to 30 days). The unpackaged smart scaffolds could not only support cell growth and accelerate wound closure but also track motions on skin and in vivo and trigger alarms once excessive wound deformations occurred. These features not only confirmed the great potential of these smart scaffolds for applications in tissue reconstruction and wound monitoring but also proved the possibility of employing various plant protein ultrafine fibers as flexible bioelectronics.

A Skin-Inspired Self-Adaptive System for Temperature Control During Dynamic Wound Healing

“…The heating of the graphene array in this biomimetic skin is achieved by an external power supply device, which could increase the blood flow near the wound, effectively promoting wound healing and skin tissue repair, as shown in Fig. 5 a [ 44 , 45 ]. To demonstrate the positive effect of TRES on promoting wound healing, animal models with a notch on the back of mice were constructed.…”

Intelligent Electrospinning Nanofibrous Membranes for Monitoring and Promotion of Wound Healing

“…8 B). Liu et al [ 163 ] prepared a dressing that can directly monitor the deformation of the skin wound, allowing for better assessment of the wound condition ( Fig. 8 C).…”

“…Copyright 2021, ACS; (C) Schematic illustration of the preparation process of intelligent scaffolds. Reproduced with permission of [ 163 ]. Copyright 2023, ACS; (D) The schematic diagram of the three-dimensional hierarchically interlocked PVDF/ZnO fibers-based PME for muscle behavior monitoring.…”