A Solar-Powered Hydrogel Platform for Precise Thermal Control and On-Demand Antibiotic Release in Infected Wound Management.

Abstract

Bacterial-infected wounds pose a critical clinical challenge, exacerbated by antibiotic resistance (AMR) and the limitations of photothermal therapy. Herein, we report a pioneering solar-powered hydrogel with phase-change material (PCM)-engineered 3D ordered macroporous carbon (OMC), enabling laser-independent PTT, precise thermal control, and on-demand antibiotic release. The OMC exhibits 96.5% solar absorptivity (250-800 nm) and 74.6% solar-to-thermal conversion efficiency, serving as a renewable photothermal agent and stimuli-responsive reservoir. Infiltrated PCM endows autonomous thermal regulation, stabilizing local temperature at 44.5 ± 0.4°C to mitigate tissue damage and trigger pulsatile vancomycin release under sunlight. This switchable thermal-drug system achieves synergistic antibacterial efficacy, reducing antibiotic dosage by 41.4% vs. conventional hydrogels. In a murine full-thickness infected wound model, the hydrogel platform significantly accelerates wound healing processes by promoting collagen deposition and angiogenesis, while completely eliminating drug-induced cytotoxicity to host cells. Collectively, this work establishes a laser-independent PTT-based therapeutic strategy to alleviate antibiotic overuse, providing a portable, safe, and clinically translatable solution for the management of bacterial-infected wounds.