Chronic wounds caused by pathogenic bacterial infections have been a worldwide medical threat and challenge, ZnO is a promising antibacterial agent to promote infected wound healing. However, ZnO particles need to be with a wound dressing material to improve low-dose antibacterial efficacy while reducing cytotoxicity. The natural polysaccharide, chitin-based hydrogels can be applied as a preferential supporting matrix for the deposition of ZnO. In this study, we developed chitin/ZnO composite hydrogels (CZG hydrogels), which were applied for the biofilm-infected full-thickness wound treatment. The three-dimensional hydrophilic network structure of chitin hydrogels provided a large number of absorption sites for Zn²⁺ ions, and CZG hydrogels were prepared by in situ synthesis of ZnO. CZG hydrogels had potent broad-spectrum and long-lasting antibacterial activity, good bacteriostatic ability against high concentration of bacterial fluids. The in vivo studies showed that CZG hydrogels have a significant effect of accelerating biofilm-infected wound healing. Collectively, this work confirmed that chitin hydrogels could be applied as a preferential natural supporting matrix for the deposition of inorganic metal and metal oxide nanoparticles, and provided alternative antibacterial dressing for treating microbial infections and promoting wound healing.

致病菌感染引起的慢性伤口一直是世界范围内的医学威胁和挑战，ZnO是一种有前途的抗菌剂，可促进感染伤口愈合。然而，ZnO颗粒需要与伤口敷料材料配合使用，以提高低剂量抗菌功效，同时降低细胞毒性。天然多糖、甲壳素基水凝胶可用作 ZnO 沉积的优先支撑基质。在本研究中，我们开发了甲壳素/ZnO复合水凝胶（CZG水凝胶），用于生物膜感染的全层伤口治疗。甲壳素水凝胶的三维亲水网络结构为Zn ²⁺离子提供了大量的吸附位点，通过原位合成ZnO制备了CZG水凝胶。CZG水凝胶具有强效广谱、持久的抗菌活性，对高浓度细菌液具有良好的抑菌能力。体内研究表明，CZG 水凝胶具有加速生物膜感染伤口愈合的显着效果。总的来说，这项工作证实了甲壳素水凝胶可以作为无机金属和金属氧化物纳米颗粒沉积的优先天然支撑基质，并为治疗微生物感染和促进伤口愈合提供替代抗菌敷料。