Polydopamine Nanosheets Doped Injectable Hydrogel with Nitric Oxide Release and Photothermal Effects for Bacterial Ablation and Wound Healing

Abstract The development of wound dressings with combined antibacterial activities and pro‐healing functions has always been an intractable medical task for treating bacterial wound infection. Herein, a novel injectable hybrid hydrogel dressing is developed, which is doped with nitric oxide (NO) donor (N,N’‐di‐sec‐butyl‐N,N’‐dinitroso‐1,4‐phenylenediamine, BNN6) loaded two‐dimensional polydopamine nanosheets (PDA NS). The hydrogel matrix is in situ formed through dynamic Schiff base crosslinking between hydrazide‐modified γ‐polyglutamic acid (γ‐PGA‐ADH) and aldehyde‐terminated Pluronic F127 (F127‐CHO). Under 808 nm irradiation, the embedded PDA NS exhibits outstanding photothermal transform properties (56.1%) and on‐demand NO release. The combination of photothermal and NO gas therapy with a synergistic antibacterial effect works on both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in vitro. Furthermore, a full‐thickness skin defect model also demonstrates that the hybrid hydrogel shows outstanding antibacterial properties and effectively accelerates the wound healing process. Overall, this study provides a facile and promising method for the fabrication of PDA NS based multifunctional hydrogel dressing for the application of infectious skin wound healing.