Functionalized sepiolite incorporated chitosan/poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels for wound dressing and sustained silver sulfadiazine release

Silver sulfadiazine (AgSD) belongs to the class of sulfonamides, a broad spectrum antibiotic. However, topically AgSD has limited bioavailability, less solubility and poor penetration. Consequently, we have prepared functionalized sepiolite (F-SEP) incorporating chitosan (CS) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels for improved AgSD delivery and wound dressing applications. In 30 hours, 81.27% of the drug was released which is superior from numerous studies and depicted best fit for Korsmyer-Peppas model (R2-0.978). The biodegradable and pH responsive CS/PEG/F-SEP hydrogel platform could be a valuable choice for sustained delivery of AgSD and therapeutic payloads for development of efficient dressings for healing wounds.