Antibacterial, antioxidant and biocompatible nanosized quercetin-PVA xerogel films for wound dressing.

Topical use of antimicrobial agents to treat wounds to inhibit bacterial invasion and facilitate wound healing is an effective strategy. In this work, an antibacterial xerogel film for potential applications in wound dressings was developed. First, a natural antibacterial agent, quercetin (Qu), was made into water-soluble quercetin-borate (QuB) nanoparticles by merging a solvent exchange method with the borate esterification reaction. QuB nanoparticles were then employed as the cross-linking agent to achieve gelation of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) to obtain antimicrobial QuB-PVA composite microgels. Furthermore, QuB-PVA microgels were utilized as raw materials to produce xerogel films via an electrospray technique. The as-prepared QuB-PVA xerogel films exhibited excellent bacteriostasis, antioxidation, biocompatibility, self-healing, accelerated skin regeneration and functional restoration, and promoted skin wound healing. The QuB-PVA films significantly facilitated the in vivo healing speed of full-thickness skin wounds compared to commercial dressings. We believe that the present multifunctional QuB-PVA xerogel film is an excellent candidate for the wound dressings. [Display omitted] • A QuB-PVA xerogel film was prepared as the bioactive wound dressing. • The QuB-PVA film possessed good antibacterial and antioxidant performances. • The QuB-PVA film exhibited excellent self-healing ability and low cell cytotoxicity. The QuB-PVA film could accelerate skin regeneration and promote skin wound healing. • The QuB-PVA film as the wound dressing has better effect compared to commercial film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]