Cerium ions crosslinked sodium alginate-carboxymethyl chitosan spheres with antibacterial activity for wound healing

For wound healing, wound infection caused by bacteria is one of the important reasons that delay wound healing process. Therefore, it is very meaningful to develop a multifunctional wound dressing with antibacterial capability to accelerate wound healing. Sodium alginate (SA) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) are the most commonly used compositions in wound dressing, but their poor stability inhibits the further applications. Introducing CMCS and using cerium ions (Ce 3+ ) to crosslink CMCS and SA to form SA-CMCS hybrid spheres by electrostatic spray method, can not only improve the stability of SA hydrogels, but also endow the spheres with excellent antibacterial properties due to the characteristics of Ce 3+ . The gradual release of Ce 3+ from the SA-CMCS spheres can effectively inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) and Escherichia coli ( E. coli ). Combining the wound healing promotion ability of SA and CMCS, this kind of wound dressing can not only avoid wound infection caused by bacteria effectively, but also accelerate wound healing, thus it is an easily prepared material with potential applications in skin defect repair.