Preparation and Characterization of Composite Hydrogel Based on Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA)-Sodium Alginate (SA)-Boric Acid (BA) Loaded with Ciprofloxacin

Severe skin trauma requires a long time to heal, and wound dressings, serving as hemostatic agents and bacterial barriers, can control bleeding and infection. The development of novel antibacterial drug-loaded wound dressings is of great significance for wound treatment. To prepare a novel drug-loaded hydrogel with self-healing, antibacterial, and excellent adhesion properties, this study utilized boric acid as a crosslinker to fabricate a composite hydrogel based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sodium alginate (SA), boric acid (BA) loaded with ciprofloxacin (CIP) (CIP/PVA-SA-BA composite hydrogel). The prepared CIP/PVA-SA-BA composite materials were systematically characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, and the healing ability, adhesion, swelling ratio, drug release, and biocompatibility of the CIP/PVA-SA-BA composite hydrogel were evaluated. The CIP/PVA-SA-BA composite hydrogel exhibited a three-dimensional porous structure with a swelling ratio of 869.03 ± 84.56% in phosphate buffer solution and demonstrated good mechanical properties. The CIP/PVA-SA-BA composite hydrogel showed excellent self-healing ability and superior adhesion properties. Additionally, drug release experiments have confirmed that the hydrogel possesses sustained drug release capability and excellent antibacterial properties. These findings provide a reference for the application of drug-loaded composite hydrogels in wound dressings.