Table 4.
Recent studies on the alginate composites for wound dressing application.
| Additional components to alginate composite | Functions | Performances | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chitosan | Bactericidal activity | Better bactericidal activity against Gram (-) bacteria (E. coli) than Gram (+) bacteria (S. aureus). | [105] |
| hemolytic properties | Slightly hemolytic. | ||
| Blood clotting | Activate blood-clotting faster than the commercial Celox™ material. |
||
| Nano-silica or hydroxyapatite (nHAP) | Tuning the physicochemical properties of alginate reinforced fibres | Addition of nano-silica or HAP delayed degradation and swelling behaviour and increase mechanical performances of the dressing and bioactivity of the wound healing process with no toxicity effects. | [106] |
| Poly(γ-glutamic acid) | Tuning the physicochemical properties of alginate hydrogel | Addition of poly(γ-glutamic acid) improved the swelling property, hemostats and removal of exudates due to the high hydrophilicity of poly(γ-glutamic acid). | [107] |
| Gelatin | Tuning the physicochemical properties of alginate hydrogel | Prolonged sustained the drug release. | [108] |
| Vancomycin | Antimicrobial drug | Antimicrobial activity towards gram positive bacteria. | |
| Halloysite nanotubes | Encapsulate the vancomycin | Extended the release of vancomycin (44% released amount) as compared to silica microcapsule (70% released amount). | |
| Natural polyols (i.e., polypropylene glycol) | Tuning the physicochemical properties of alginate foam dressing sheets | Nontoxic foam with higher density, lower porosity, better water absorption, higher strength and faster foam degradation than alginate foam without natural polyols. | [109] |
| Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and asiaticoside (AS) | Antimicrobial agents | Combination of Ag NPs and AS showed better antibacterial activity toward P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, E. coli and B. subtilis. | |
| Ageratum conyzoides extract (ACE) | Tuning the physicochemical properties of alginate hydrogel film | Addition of ACE improved the tensile strength, swelling rate and thermal stability of alginate film. | [110] |
| Oxygen-releasing microspheres (ORM) containing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) incorporated into poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) | Forming a sustained release of oxygen to cells and tissues | Caused effective tissue regeneration wound healing by inducing neovascularization and promoting cell proliferation. | [111] |
| Manuka honey | Tuning the physicochemical properties of alginate hydrogel film | Addition of Manuka honey decreased the swelling rate and gel fraction but increased the Young Modulus and tensile strength. | [112] |
| Rana chensinensis skin peptides (RCSPs) extracted from discarded Rana chensinensis skin | Promote cell proliferation | Addition of RCSPs promoted collagen deposition, enhanced epidermal regeneration and faster hemostasis thus effectively promote wound healing. | [113] |
| Collagen @ polyacrylamide (PAM-Col) | Mix with oxidized sodium alginate as a new cross linker (COA) to form composite hydrogel | PAM-Col-COA composite hydrogel showed good mechanical properties, skin tissue adhesion, water absorption and sustained biological activity. | [114] |
| Chitosan | Forming stable shell (microcapsule) for drug delivery (Chinese nutgall) | Biocompatible and long-term durability for maintaining a long-term drug release. Ease of storage (−20 °C for more than 60 h). Also contribute to the antimicrobial activity | [115] |
| Chinese nutgall | Antimicrobial drug | Inhibition rate of 98.99% against S. aureus after 12 h and 100% after 12 h, 99.61% against E. coli after 6 h and 100% after 12 h. High antibacterial efficacy with S. aureus inhibition zones of 7.67 mm and E. coli inhibition zones of 5.27 mm | |
| Activated charcoal | As adsorbent | Adsorbed toxins, malodour molecules and tissue degradation products | [116] |
| Zinc ions (Zn2+) | Antimicrobial agent | Inhibit the E. coli growth after 1 hour of contact-time only |