Effective wound exudate management is critical for healing; excessive exudate promotes maceration and infection, whereas insufficient exudate can cause dressing adhesion and secondary tissue damage. Herein, we report the fabrication of a three-layer self-pumping wound dressing with adjustable pore size and wettability gradient via near-field electrospinning and three-dimensional (3D) printing. Polyacrylonitrile and polyurethane were electrospun to form the intermediate layer. The fiber morphology and pore size were precisely controlled by optimizing the solution concentration, polymer ratio, spinning distance, and applied voltage. Printing program modification tuned the pore sizes of the intermediate and hydrophobic layers, enabling precise modulation of layer-specific wettability. Finally, a three-layer self-pumping wound dressing system with adjustable pore sizes and a wettability gradient was assembled via 3D printing technology. The dressing exhibited excellent physical properties, biocompatibility, and hemostatic and antibacterial functions. Systematic evaluation of liquid transport demonstrated that the self-pumping effect could be effectively modulated by varying the pore sizes of the intermediate and hydrophobic layers, with tunable absorption speed, depending on the pore size combination. This tunable design offers a versatile strategy for personalized exudate management in chronic wound care.
Liu et al. (Sun,) studied this question.