Wound management as a huge challenge worldwide, has attracted plenty of dedications/efforts from both academia and industry over the past few decades. Considering that the quite complex incremental process of wound healing, the recent research progress mainly focuses on two parts: (i) Design and synthesis of hemostatic domains composed of different active components (e.g., natural polymers, synthetic polymers, silicon-based or metallic materials) and in various forms (e.g., sponges, hydrogels, nanofibers and particles). (ii) Incorporating with active factors (e.g., nanomaterials, growth factors, and antibacterial agents) into the soft, highly moistened matrixes, such as biocompatible hydrogels. Both designs are proposed to precisely tune hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and/or remodeling, achieving the efficient facilitation of wound healing. However, when we revisit these designs, there still many basic challenges remain, including but not limited in universal theoretical concepts, adopted rationalized structures, and practical operation/ built-in efficiency of wound dressings.
Excitingly, many passive wounds originate from alterations in biologic processes (e.g., diseases lead by mutated genes, misfolded proteins, and infections caused by viruses or bacteria) at the molecular or nanoscale level. With the development of emerging nanotechnology/nanomaterials/nanomedicines, the intentional and rational design, characterization, and applications of structures, materials, devices, and highly integrated polymeric systems is not highly intractable. On the other hand, with the aim to accelerate chronic/acute wound healing, many hydrogel dressings with appropriate nanomaterials loading have emerged and are proven to accelerate wound healing, especially for chronic wound repair. Thus, with these backgrounds, we have reasons to believe that the emerging combinations of nanomaterials and polymeric hydrogels shall let wounds heal easier.
This Article Collection aims to collect and disseminate the most relevant research concerning the study and characterization of wound dressings also in view of the possible future scenarios induced by promising polymer/nanomaterial designs. Within this context, a broad range of subjects will be covered, including rational multiscale (e.g., nano-, micro-, macro-, and condensed-) structural and molecular hydrogel design, novel materials synthesis, modeling and prediction, and further biological and biomedical applications for well-designed multifunctional wound dressings. The topic also includes the impacts that complex operative wounds have on the human community and the environment, the strategies for the mitigation of the inflammation for cell/tissue/organs during the biomedical hydrogel treatments, both in terms of methodologies aimed at a better understanding of the whole cycle from theoretical materials/chemistry design to technically biological/biomedical trails and feedbacks. Since this topic will be of interest to a wide audience of researchers in different fields, including (but not limited to) physical science, chemistry, materials science, mechanical engineering, biomedical and tissue engineering, and clinicians & surgery, we believe that the launch of this topic will stimulate new research and discoveries in the fields of both hydrogels and nanomaterials. We look forward to receiving your contributions (e.g., Perspectives, Reviews, Original Research Articles, Comments, etc).
Keywords
- Wound dressings
- Smart hydrogels
- Nanomaterials
- Biological & biomedical applications
- Tissue engineering
- Biopolymers
- Hydrogel scaffolds
- Drug delivery
All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisor for this collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member). Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.
The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 15 October 2023.
Dr. Dong Zhang works as a Postdoctoral Fellow (NIH, Nanomaterials) in Prof. Younan Xia’s lab as at Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University after he received his Ph.D. at The University of Akron. His research leads to over 90 high-impact papers in the research fields of rational synthesis and application of polymers, zwitterions, hydrogels, nanomaterials, and biomaterials.
Dr. Jintao Yang is a full professor at College of Materials Science and Technology, Zhejiang University of Technology. His main research interests include polymer processing, polymer surfaces and interfaces, in particular smart materials based on zwitterionic polymers for biological and sensing applications. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers.
