A self-healing hydrogel based on oxidized microcrystalline cellulose and carboxymethyl chitosan as wound dressing material.

As the food processing by-products, hericium erinaceus residues (HER) and pineapple peel (PP) are good sources of cellulose and chitosan that can be prepared into hydrogels for structuring a drug delivery system. Hydrogel is one new type biomaterial for drug delivery with excellent absorbent ability applied in wound dressing. In this research, one composite self-healing hydrogel with pH sensitivity for drug delivery system based on the Schiff-base reaction was fabricated. Therein aldehyde group of oxidized microcrystalline cellulose (OMCC) from PP were crosslinked with amino group of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) from HER via Schiff-base reaction for structuring hydrogels. The structures of the prepared hydrogels were characterized. Meanwhile, its blood clotting activity and physical properties were investigated. The hydrogels show some favorable performances with suitable gel time (54 s of minimum), distinguish swelling rate (about 31.18 g/g), good mechanical, self-healing characteristic and well coagulation effect. The cumulative release of the rutin-loaded hydrogel OMCM-54 reached about 80 % within 6 h, suggesting the well-controlled release of rutin by crosslinking degree between the modified OMCC and CMCS based on Schiff-base reaction. The novel biomaterial based on hericium erinaceus residues and pineapple peel shows its potential use as wound dressing.