Alumina Ceramic Textiles as Novel Bacteria‐Capturing Wound Dressings

Abstract

Although antimicrobial dressings have proven to be crucial in the treatment of wounds, they may give rise to antibiotic-resistant strains or result in the release of endotoxins after bacterial death, which in turn inhibits wound healing. This study highlights the efficacy of a novel alumina ceramic textile as dressing that utilizes the principles of bacteria capture from the wound bed and inhibition of bacterial infiltration into the wound bed to reduce the bacterial burden and to inhibit the spread of infection, without the involvement of active antimicrobial substances or functional nanoparticles. The alumina textiles are compared to commercial dressings like the non-woven mesh Cutimed Sorbact and gauzes from LEINA WERKE and performed significantly better in capturing bacteria. They are found to be effective against both Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis and show promising results in the presence of simulated wound fluid and in artificial wound bed tests from which they can be easily lifted without leaving behind any visible residues. In summary, the alumina textiles exhibit a highly efficient bacterial binding activity, possibly due to the intrinsic material properties of their hierarchical structure including the tricot knit mesh, small fiber diameters, pronounced fiber surface microtopography, and high specific surface area.