Fabrication of temperature and pH dual-sensitive semi-interpenetrating network hydrogel with enhanced adhesion and antibacterial properties

Abstract

It is urgently needed to have antibacterial treatments that offer a controlled release of therapeutic agents, effectively targeting the breadth and universality of pathogens while ensuring sustained efficacy. Herein, we demonstrated the fabrication of a temperature and pH dual-sensitive hydrogel, prepared by cross-linking N-isopropyl acrylamide-co-acrylic acid (NIPAM-co-AA) networks with tannic acid (TA) and loaded with curcumin (Cur) (termed as NIPAM-co-AA/TA@Cur), providing the on-demand release of Cur triggered by changes in the wound microenvironment (MET). The prepared hydrogel exhibited excellent tensile property (50-fold the length of the original), superior self-healing ability, and high adhesion performance (6.2 kPa). We further confirmed that this dual-sensitive hydrogel can respond to typical wound pH and temperature changes, promoting Cur release (>90 % release) at alkaline pH (≥8.0) while achieving up to 92 % Cur release at 37 °C. The in vitro antibacterial efficacy tests displayed that a high potency to kill E.coli and S.aureus while significantly enhancing antibacterial ability under simulated wound MET with high temperature and alkaline conditions. This versatile hydrogel presents a promising approach for targeted drug delivery by responding to specific pathological regions, thereby minimizing potential side effects and bolstering antimicrobial efficacy.