2.1. Characterization of CCM@ZIF-8@SA composite hydrogels
Zn
2+ was used as the cross-linking agent for the preparation of flexible sodium SA hydrogels, and the surficial Zn
2+ on the as-prepared hydrogel could also work as metal coordinated center to simultaneously connect with 2-Methylimidazole (2-mIM) ligand and CCM, leading to the formation of CCM-loaded Zn-MOF hydrogel (CCM@ZIF-8@SA), as shown in
Figure 1a. With increasing the enrolled CCM amount (1.0, 3.0 and 5.0 mg), three kinds of composite hydrogels are obtained, that was 1CCM@ZIF-8@SA, 3CCM@ZIF-8@SA and 5CCM@ZIF-8@SA accordingly. The optical and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the as-prepared SA, ZIF-8@SA and 1/3/5CCM@ZIF-8@SA were depicted in
Figure 1. From the optical picture, it could be seen that the SA hydrogel after Zn
2+ crosslinking was transparent (
Figure 1b), and after loading ZIF-8 particles, the sample changed from transparent to white (
Figure 1c). When CCM was added together with the coordination ligand, the sample color turned orange and gradually deepened as the CCM amount increased (
Figure 1d-f). As shown in the SEM image (
Figure 1g-k), they all had a porous sponge structure, which would contribute to water retention/penetration and sustained drug release inside the hydrogel. As shown in the magnified insets in
Figure 1g-h, the surface of SA hydrogel was smooth, while coordination of Zn
2+ with 2-mIM gave rise to regular dodecahedral ZIF-8 particles homogeneously dispersed on SA (ZIF-8@SA). From
Figure 1i, it could be seen the small dosage of CCM did not change the surface sate a bit, but when the added CCM amount was increased to 3mg, most of the regular dodecahedral structure was replaced by a sheet structure (
Figure 1j), meaning the CCM could work as the regulator in the coordination reaction and even as another ligand to coordinate with Zn
2+ , thus rebuilding the MOF structure
[21, 22]; With CCM increased to 5 mg (inset in
Figure 1k), the surface dodecahedral structures were totally changed to lamellar structures, verifying the similar role of CCM as ligands. The lamellar structures were promised to serve as effective channels for drug release.
From the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns (
Figure 2a), it could be seen ZIF-8 had characteristic diffraction peaks at 7.39, 10.45, 12.84 and 16.51°, which corresponded to the (110), (200), (211) and (222) planes, respectively[
23]. These typical peaks appeared in the ZIF-8@SA and still remained in 5CCM@ZIF-8@SA (containing the most CCM) samples, indicating that ZIF-8 crystals were successfully formed onto the hydrogel[
24], but also the participation of CCM did not affect the packing of ZIF-8.The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectra were shown in
Figure 2b. Characteristic peaks of CCM and ZIF-8 were present in 1/3/5CCM@ZIF-8@SA, evidencing the successful incorporation of CCM into ZIF-8. Compared with pure CCM, the stretched peak of the phenol group in 1/3/5CCM@ZIF-8@SA showed a blue shift from the original 3490 to 3435 cm
−1, which was probably attributed to the strong interaction between CCM and Zn
2+[
25]. To confirm the presence of CCM into ZIF-8, the UV−vis absorption analysis was conducted (
Figure 2c). As displayed, CCM had a characteristic absorption band at 427 nm; After hosted, a strong but wide absorption peak (at 440 nm) was observed in 1/3/5CCM@ZIF-8@SA, meaning a marked red shift of about 13 nm relative to the pure CCM. This further revealed the strong interaction between CCM and Zn
2+ either in ZIF-8 or the hydrogel, which decreased the band gap between π−π
∗[
26] electronic transition of CCM. It is supposed that CCM contains highly conjugated 1,3-diketones moiety (1, 3-diketones and two enols) in the tautomer, which could be connected with Zn
2+ to form porous skeleton compounds with stable structure. In the Raman spectra (
Figure 2d), no obvious bond was found in SA; ZIF-8@SA showed the characteristic bonds of ZIF-8 at 286 cm
-1 (Zn-N vibrations in the ZnN
4 tetrahedron)[
27], 1123 cm
-1 (C-N stretching), and 1461 cm
-1 (C-H)[
28], indicating the successful loading of ZIF-8 onto SA; The extrafaceted bending vibration of the imidazole ring at 694 cm
-1 was assigned to Zn-N vibrations[
29]. These distinct Raman bands of CCM were also observed in 1/3/5CCM@ZIF-8@SA, further confirming the incorporation of CCM[
30].
The mechanical properties of composite hydrogels were then tested. As shown in
Figure 3a, the tensile strength increased with the addition of CCM and ZIF-8. Compared with the SA hydrogel (7.66 MPa), the ultimate tensile strengths of the ZIF-8@SA and 5CCM@ZIF-8@SA were 10.67 MPa and 11.95 MPa, respectively. This might be attributed to the formation of supplementary chemical cross-linking (
i.e., coordination bond, hydrogen bond) between ZIF-8 and SA
[31, 32]. To verify its flexibility, bending and twisting tests were conducted on 5CCM@ZIF-8@SA samples. As shown in
Figure 3b, the 5CCM@ZIF-8@SA sample could endure a large degree of distortion and still maintained the original shape after twisting. When the hydrogel was adhered to the finger joints and with bending (
Figure 3c), the sample did not break after bending by 120°, 90° and 60°. These results indicated its good toughness and flexibility, promising for its use as the wound dressing.
2.2. Drug release behavior of CCM@ZIF-8@SA composite hydrogel
According to the wavelength scans of different concentrations of CCM ethanol solution and the standard curve of CCM, a linear fit yielded the relationship between CCM concentration and absorbance values as y=0.14617x+0.02948 with a correlation coefficient R
2 = 0.99562 (
Figure 4a,b). The cumulative concentration of CCM released from the three samples of 1CCM@ZIF-8@SA, 3CCM@ZIF-8@SA and 5CCM@ZIF-8@SA were shown in
Figure 4c. The release of CCM increased rapidly in the first 4 h, after which the rising trend of release gradually slowed down and finally approached a steady state. This was because CCM was encapsulated inside the small pores of ZIF-8 framework. At the initial stage of release, the CCM on the surface and near the pores diffused into the solution (related to the fast swelling capacity of the sample surface)[
33], while most of the CCM inside remained encapsulated inside the particles[
34]. Therefore, the release of CCM inside the granules would be slow, and a long-term release behavior could be achieved. It followed similar release pattern for three samples. Compared with the relatively rapid release for 1CCM@ZIF-8@SA (about 95% in 24 h), CCM release for 3CCM@ZIF-8@SA and 5CCM@ZIF-8@SA samples were controlled and significantly delayed (about 35% and 27% in 24 h, respectively), and most importantly, the duration of the sustained release of CCM for 5CCM@ZIF-8@SA could reach 72 h or above with a slower releasing rate. As the reason was concerned, 1CCM@ZIF-8@SA released fast possibly because that CCM was mostly eutectic on the surface and would be dissolved rapidly in large amounts upon touching the phosphate buffer solution. On the contrary, most of CCM molecules entered the interior of ZIF-8 for 5CCM@ZIF-8@SA and 3CCM@ZIF-8@SA in addition to the surficial few ones. In particular, CCM in the 5CCM@ZIF-8@SA group fully integrated with the pores in ZIF-8 to achieve the optimal coating rate of the drug, delaying the release rate and prolonging the release time. This conclusion is consistent with the morphologies and structures presented by the SEM images.
2.3. Antibacterial activities of CCM@ZIF-8@SA composite hydrogels
To assess the antibacterial activities of drug-loaded complex hydrogels, we selected gram-positive
Staphylococcus aureus (
S. aureus, BNCC186335) and gram-negative
Escherichia coli (
E. coli, BNCC336902) for antibacterial assays. Antibacterial performance is assessed by colony forming unit (CFU) assay. After co-incubating the complex hydrogel with bacterial culture medium at 37.5 °C for 24 h, quantitative data (
Figure 5a,c) and CFU assay (
Figure 5b,d) showed that both the ZIF-8@SA and CCM@ZIF-8@S samples showed good antimicrobial properties against both
S. aureus and
E. coli. Among them, the antibacterial efficiency of ZIF-8@SA in
S. aureus was 28%, and reached 58% in
E. coli, showing excellent antibacterial effect. The antibacterial efficiencies against
S. aureus increased to 30%, 42% and 65% for 1/3/5CCM@ZIF-8@SA, respectively, which were 2~4 times higher than that of pure SA (18%). Similar trend was also found in killing
E. coli, with the values being 70%, 80% and 86% for three samples. ZIF-8@SA performed better than bare SA, possibly because the release of Zn
2+ from ZIF-8 could cause some damage on the bacteria. This might arise from the disruption of bacterial membrane permeability by Zn
2+, which inhibits glycolysis, glucosyltransferase production and polysaccharide synthesis in bacteria
[35, 36]. The pleasant antibacterial effects of 1/3/5CCM@ZIF-8@SA hydrogels were thus the synergistic effect of CCM and Zn
2+. Based on the coating results of the two types of bacteria and the quantitative analysis of OD values, the OD values followed a decreasing order of SA > ZIF-8@SA > 1CCM@ZIF-8@SA > 3CCM@ZIF-8@SA > 5CCM@ZIF-8@SA both for
E. coli and
S. aureus, with 5CCM@ZIF-8@SA performing the best. The good antibacterial properties shown by CCM@ZIF-8@SA finally highlights its practical prospects as wound dressing.