Green synthesis of PVA-LS-MXene composite conductive hydrogel for high-performance skin wound dressings.

Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based hydrogels have been demonstrated to possess excellent biocompatibility and hydrophilicity. Nevertheless, their restricted mechanical resilience and antimicrobial properties have substantially constrained their utility in advanced wound care applications. To address these critical limitations, we constructed a conductive composite hydrogel as a potential wound dressing through strategic incorporation of lignin (LS) and MXene nanosheets into a PVA matrix. This ternary system establishes robust intermolecular networks via non-covalent interactions, effectively overcoming the historical challenges of inadequate mechanical performance and insufficient antimicrobial efficacy in conventional hydrogel dressings. The composite hydrogel displays high tensile strength (up to 340.8 kPa), elongation at break of up to 239.9 %, and compression modulus of more than 0.41 MPa. Meanwhile, the composite hydrogel exhibits excellent antimicrobial activity and biocompatibility, which helps to minimize wound infections and promote wound healing. Furthermore, the PLM composite hydrogel markedly accelerated wound healing in a mouse wound model. In this work, an environmentally benign PLM composite membrane demonstrated multifunctional therapeutic potential through synergistic integration of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and electroconductive properties, offering an efficacious multimodal therapy for infected and damaged skin.