Development of functionalized textiles for burn treatment

Abstract

Burn wounds are particularly affected by rapid bacterial colonization leading to infection. Infection hinders the healing time resulting in longer care or diminishes recovery. Therefore a way to control the growth of the micro-organisms and thereby prevent infections is to apply a functionalized textile containing antibacterial agents to burn skin.

This thesis aims to develop an antimicrobial textile based on eco-responsible materials. In this thesis, two strategies to incorporate the antimicrobial in a polymer matrix and to ensure a sustained release are investigated.

The first method consists in the encapsulation of the antimicrobial in porous silica gels. Silica gels present different textures depending on the precursors (i.e. TMOS, TEOS, TPOS) and the nucleating agents (i.e. EDAS, PTMS, EDAES) used. The encapsulation of an antimicrobial, Poly-L-lysine in TEOS/PTMS sample and in a silica-containing phosphate groups delivered a high percentage of encapsulation.

The second method consists in direct incorporation of the antimicrobial during electrospinning. Electrospinning is a versatile technique to generate a nanofibrous structure which has a high porosity and a high surface area to volume ratio. In this thesis, alginate and PCL electrospun nanofibers showed a fibrous morphology and structural uniformity. The diffusion of antimicrobials agents out of an alginate matrix was also investigated and showed that alginate hinders the diffusion of the Poly-L-lysine antimicrobial, while the Polymyxin B one could diffuse out the alginate matrix. A PCL matrix showed a beneficial diffusion for both of the antimicrobials.

As a result, the prospect of encapsulating Poly-L-lysine in silica gels is promising and needs further investigations about the dynamics of its release. Moreover, the prospect of integrating antimicrobials in electrospun fibres is conceivable and may be investigated in the near future.