Abstract

Electrospun fibers provide a promising platform for wound healing; however, they lack requisite characteristics for wound repair, including antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and angiogenic ability. Sodium alginate (SA) is being used for different types of applications. However, the poor spinnability of SA restricts its applications. The objectives of this study were three-fold: a) to synthesize oxidized sodium alginate (OSA) to improve its spinnability, b) to fabricate composite fibrous membranes by blending OSA along with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs), and c) to decipher antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties as well as biocompatibility of membranes in vitro and in vivo . OSA displaying different oxidation degrees ( D ox (%)) was synthesized by varying the molar ratio of sodium periodate to SA. OSA ( D ox, ∼48 %) afforded smooth and uniform fibers; 0.5 wt% of adipic dihydrazide (ADH) evolved into structurally stable and water-insoluble membranes. Composite fibrous membranes containing 2 wt% of ZnO-NPs displayed good biocompatibility and bactericidal effect against Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) and Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) in vitro . In addition, composite membranes showed remarkable epithelialization, neovascularization, and anti-inflammatory response than that of the membranes devoid of ZnO-NPs. Conclusively, these composite fibrous membranes may have broad implications for wound healing applications.