Wood Woundplast for High-efficiency Chronic Wounds Healing

The healing of chronic wounds is a global issue that poses a serious threat to public health and healthcare. Biopolymer materials are non-toxic and biocompatible dressings, however, the lack of antimicrobial properties limits their clinical application. This work adopts a top-down approach, utilizing the porous structure of natural wood and the high-water content of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to prepare a flexible wood woundplast containing curcumin. The wood woundplast resolves inherent limitations of traditional dressings, including wound adherence and rapid release, by offering a moisture-retentive environment and sustained release. The dressing exhibits excellent tensile performance, with a tensile strain of up to 270% and the ability to withstand 300 cycles of tensile stress without damage, due to the strong hydrogen bonding between the cellulose in wood and PVA. Moreover, it can absorb wound exudate to facilitate moisture exchange while releasing curcumin. Benefiting from the ability of curcumin to disrupt bacterial cell membranes and inhibit the transcription of inflammatory factors, the wood woundplast possesses dual antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory functions. The wood-based woundplast provides good biocompatibility, uses abundant raw materials, and allows flexible manufacturing, representing an effective dressing to accelerate wound healing.