Antimicrobial Films based on Chitosan, Collagen, and ZnO for Skin Tissue Regeneration

Bacterial infections represent a health issue worldwide. Over the past years, major interest has been given to developing new antibacterial and regenerative materials due to the increasing number of infections with pathogenic strains and the alarming antibiotic resistance. Polymer films and membranes with protective or even anti-infectious activity were developed. Some of them were based on nanoparticles with the main advantage that the resistance's development only seldom appears. Considering the Collagenic nature of the skin and the beneficial properties of Chitosan, the two polymers were proposed to be used in developing nanostructured wound dressing loaded with ZnO nanoparticles. These nanostructured materials confer promising characteristics to be used as anti-infectious wound dressing being biocompatible, antimicrobial against C. albicans and S. aureus, and highly hydrophilic able to absorb over 2300% water, which confer the premises of maintaining proper humidity and exudate absorption during wound healing. Fibrillar structures with Chitosan, Collagen, and Zinc Oxide can be an alternative for tissue regeneration. Electrospinning was used to fabricate fibrillar structures consisting of doing Chitosan, Collagen, and Zinc Oxide. The Zinc Oxide was used to defend the wound against infections and the beneficial role of Zn2+ in enhancing cell activity. The morphology of the fibrillar structures was studied by scanning electron microscopy while Collagen integrity by FT-IR spectroscopy.