It is often difficult to close and repair irregular wounds
such
as gums with traditional dressings that have a fixed shape, while
injectable hydrogels that can be molded in situ offer tremendous advantages
in treating complex, large wounds and can better seal or fill a variety
of irregular wounds. While the majority of injectable hydrogels developed
in current research have poor mechanical properties and biocompatibility
and obstacles to clinical applications, this paper reports an injectable
hydrogel that can be molded in situ with appropriate mechanical properties,
excellent biocompatibility, and antibacterial activity. Under UV irradiation,
a methacrylate-gelatin/poly(vinyl alcohol) loaded with copper ion
cross-linked tannic acid nanoparticle (GelMA/PVA-TA/Cu2+NPs) precursor solution could rapidly gel within 45 s and adhere
stably to the wound tissue by topological adhesion and hydrogen bonding.
Through hydrogen bonding and physical entanglement, TA/Cu2+NPs are anchored in the GelMA/PVA interpenetrating network to form
the GelMA/PVA-TA/Cu2+NPs composite hydrogel. This injectable
hydrogel, which can quickly achieve photocurable in situ molding,
can not only achieve closure and repair of irregular wounds but also
has appropriate swelling characteristics, absorbing tissue exudate
and blocking bacteria, while providing a good moist environment for
wounds and continuously promoting wound healing. Cytotoxicity tests
and wound healing experiments have shown that GelMA/PVA-TA/Cu2+NPs injectable hydrogels have good biocompatibility and wound
closure and repair ability and have promising applications in the
treatment of irregularly wounded orifices.