ABSTRACT Bacterial‐infected wounds pose a critical clinical challenge, exacerbated by antibiotic resistance (AMR) and the limitations of photothermal therapy. Herein, we report a pioneering solar‐powered hydrogel with phase‐change material (PCM)‐engineered 3D ordered macroporous carbon (OMC), enabling laser‐independent PTT, precise thermal control, and on‐demand antibiotic release. The OMC exhibits 96.5% solar absorptivity (250–800 nm) and 74.6% solar‐to‐thermal conversion efficiency, serving as a renewable photothermal agent and stimuli‐responsive reservoir. Infiltrated PCM endows autonomous thermal regulation, stabilizing local temperature at 44.5 ± 0.4°C to mitigate tissue damage and trigger pulsatile vancomycin release under sunlight. This switchable thermal‐drug system achieves synergistic antibacterial efficacy, reducing antibiotic dosage by 41.4% vs. conventional hydrogels. In a murine full‐thickness infected wound model, the hydrogel platform significantly accelerates wound healing processes by promoting collagen deposition and angiogenesis, while completely eliminating drug‐induced cytotoxicity to host cells. Collectively, this work establishes a laser‐independent PTT‐based therapeutic strategy to alleviate antibiotic overuse, providing a portable, safe, and clinically translatable solution for the management of bacterial‐infected wounds.
Bao et al. (Mon,) studied this question.