Carbon Dot-Capped Silver Nanoparticle-Embedded Double-Network Chitosan Hydrogel as a Multifunctional Biomaterial for Antibacterial, Hemostasis, and Wound Dressing

Nov 18, 2025ACS biomaterials science & engineering

Double-Network Chitosan Hydrogel with Carbon Dot-Coated Silver Nanoparticles for Antibacterial, Bleeding Control, and Wound Healing

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Abstract

The double-network hydrogel, CG_CasK@CDs_AgNp, shows minimum inhibitory concentrations against E. coli and S. aureus of 8 μg/mL and 16 μg/mL, respectively.

The hydrogel integrates carbon dot-capped silver nanoparticles to enhance its properties.
It demonstrates increased adhesive strength due to the functionalization with hydrocaffeic acid.
CG_CasK@CDs_AgNp exhibits excellent stretchability and viscoelastic nature.
A time-kill study indicates that it achieves bactericidal activity within 9 hours.
The hydrogel promotes wound healing and shows good cytocompatibility.

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Bioinspired double-network (DN) hydrogels are generally considered superior to single-network hydrogels due to their ability to mimic the structure and mechanical behavior of tissues. Using DN hydrogels eventually overcomes the key limitations of single-network hydrogels, such as insufficient mechanical strength, poor adhesion, self-healing, and suboptimal biocompatibility. The fundamental aim of our work is to integrate well-characterized multifunctional materials into a single DN hydrogel to support diverse biomedical uses. Therefore, we have developed a double-network (DN) hydrogel, CG_CasK@CDs_AgNp, by incorporating carbon dot-capped silver nanoparticles (CasK@CDs_AgNp) into an acrylic acid hydrogel cross-linked with hydrocaffeic acid-modified chitosan via a polymerization reaction. The functionalization of hydrocaffeic acid endows higher adhesive strength. Carbon dot-capped silver nanoparticles induce additional physical cross-linking, antibacterial properties, and self-healing behavior of the matrix. CasK@CDs_AgNp exhibited minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) againstandof 8 μg/mL and 16 μg/mL, respectively. The synthesized hydrogels, CG_CasK@CDs_AgNp, exhibited excellent stretchability, viscoelastic nature, and good adhesive properties against human and pig skin. A time-kill study has demonstrated that CG_CasK@CDs_AgNp exhibits bactericidal activity within 9 h, achieving maximum killing, excellent hemostatic activity, promoting wound healing, and good cytocompatibility. Given its admirable antibacterial activity and good physicochemical nature, broad application in bacterial wound infections can be anticipated. E. coli S. aureus

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Carbon Dot-Capped Silver Nanoparticle-Embedded Double-Network Chitosan Hydrogel as a Multifunctional Biomaterial for Antibacterial, Hemostasis, and Wound Dressing

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