ABSTRACT Chronic wounds are hard‐to‐heal ulcers often complicated by antimicrobial‐resistant infections caused by the overuse of antimicrobial agents. Infections contribute to the refractory character of wounds, accounting for around 50% of total cases. This emphasizes the need for advanced dressing materials, such as antimicrobial foams, that can inhibit rapid and sustained bacterial growth, manage exudate, and be non‐cytotoxic. In this work, hydrophilic antimicrobial polyurethane (PU) foams were developed using silver‐based ion‐exchange compounds and a safer aliphatic diisocyanate prepolymer, replacing commonly used less biocompatible aromatic diisocyanates. The antimicrobial agents' concentration in PU foam was optimized to ensure ≥ 70% cell viability and effective antimicrobial efficacy without significantly compromising their physicochemical properties. PU foams' exudate handling capacity and physical properties were evaluated according to BS EN13726 and ASTM D3574‐17 standards. Foams with AlphaSan RC2000 showed better biocompatibility and antimicrobial effectiveness against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa than Zeomic AW10N‐based foams, attributed to their elemental composition. PU foams with AlphaSan RC2000 exhibited well‐interconnected pores, soft, higher free swell absorptive capacity (> 15 g/g), effective antimicrobial efficacy (> 75%–99% OD600 reduction), and biocompatibility. The detailed outcomes of in vitro characteristics collectively confirmed that AlphaSan RC2000‐based PU foams could potentially be used for managing and treating infected wounds.
Rajput et al. (Fri,) studied this question.