Nano silver composite hydroxyethyl methacrylate/vinylpyrrolidone hydrogel: Tissue adhesives with antibacterial properties

Bacterial wound infections are prevalent in daily life. However, conventional tissue adhesives lack antimicrobial properties. In this study, a redox method was employed to prepare a nano-silver solution with tannic acid as a dispersant. Subsequently, the nano-silver solution was combined with the precursor solution of the hydroxyethyl methacrylate/vinylpyrrolidone (HEMA/NVP) hydrogel. Finally, it was put under ultraviolet light to produce the hydrogel. The hydrogel exhibits remarkable extendibility (1223 %), an elastic modulus compatible with human skin tissue (3.7 ± 0.5 kPa), the strong adhesion to porcine skin tissue (24.67 ± 1.15 kPa) markedly exceeds that achieved by clinically utilized fibrin glue, low swelling ratio (75 ± 1.55 %), and demonstrates good in vitro antimicrobial properties against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Furthermore, it displays excellent biocompatibility with fibroblast cells (NIH/3T3) with cell viability above 80 %, favorable blood compatibility with goat blood, and moderate coagulation ability. It provides more possibilities for clinical wound repair.