Currently available
wound dressings to heal thermal and chronic
wounds are unable to respond to the challenges of resistance to
bacterial infection,
protein adsorption, and increased levels of
wound exudates. To this end, we have conceived the fabrication of a new and ideal
wound dressing with a number of key attributes. They include effective antimicrobial activity in a controlled manner, ultralow fouling property that provides resistance to
protein adsorption and bacterial adhesion, maintain a moist but not saturated environment to promote healing, and is non-adherent and effective in the presence of heavy
wound exudate. The novel approach to reduce
infection and bacterial colonization involves incorporation of a unique
silver-
clay nanohybrid architecture in zwitterionic
polymer, poly(
sulfobetaine). The innovative concept of
silver-
clay hybrid structure enables us to obtain high, sustained, and diffusion-controlled antimicrobial activity of
silver eluting
polymer. The sustained and diffusion-controlled high antimicrobial efficiency is obtained through a process involving in situ precipitation of
silver nanoparticles with large surface area on the surface of
clay platelets. Furthermore, the use of recently developed zwitterionic
polymer, poly(
sulfobetaine) [poly(SB)] for
wound dressing, provides antifouling property, which resists
protein adsorption.