Dehydration-resistant multi-functional hydrogel-based iontophoretic drug delivery for wound healing

Wearable wound dressing is a promising approach for treating wound infection and promoting healing process. However, conventional wearable dressing methods have the drawback of poor long-term stability due to water loss. Herein, a novel hydrogel patch is fabricated by incorporating phosphoric acid and glycerol to enhance the water retention capacity. This hydrogel exhibits an excellent water retention rate of 97.7% after 7 days under ambient conditions (25 ℃, 50% relative humidity). Consequently, the stretchability, adhesion, and electrical conductivity required for wearable dressing are stably maintained. The antibiotic loaded into the dressing is effectively delivered via iontophoresis, which is demonstrated through in vitro drug release experiments, ex vivo porcine skin deposition tests, and in vivo mouse models. Therefore, this multi-functional hydrogel patch can be a promising strategy for developing an efficient drug delivery and wound healing platform using anti-drying conductive hydrogels and iontophoresis-based transdermal drug delivery.