Hydrogels can serve as antimicrobial wound-dressing materials: they act as a physical barrier to bacterial penetration and maintain a moist environment, with improved biocompatibility and mechanical properties. In this research, hydrogels were developed using sulfated polysaccharides from three red microalgae (sea, brackish or fresh water) combined with chitosan (PS_{sea/brackish/fresh}-Chi hydrogels). We have chosen the PS_sea-Chi hydrogels for further studies since they were the stiffest and stable under physiological conditions. Zinc was added to the hydrogels to increase antimicrobial activity. Rheological characterizations of Zn-PS-hydrogels indicated that the stiffness and swelling of the hydrogels decreased with increasing zinc concentration, resulting from the charge-screening effects. SEM analysis showed that Zn-PS-Chi hydrogels were highly porous and zinc-release measurements suggested that all hydrogels shared similar release profiles. Agar diffusion tests suggested that the Zn-PS-Chi hydrogels exhibited a broad-spectrum of antimicrobial activities. The presented characteristics of the Zn-PS-Chi hydrogels highlight their potential use as wound dressings.

水凝胶可以用作抗菌伤口处理材料：它们充当细菌渗透的物理屏障，并保持潮湿的环境，并具有改善的生物相容性和机械性能。在这项研究中，水凝胶是使用来自三种红色微藻类（海水，微咸水或淡水）的硫酸化多糖与脱乙酰壳多糖（PS_{海/微咸/新鲜}-Chi水凝胶）组合而成的。我们选择了PS_海-Chi水凝胶在生理条件下最坚硬且稳定，因此有待进一步研究。将锌添加到水凝胶中以增加抗菌活性。Zn-PS-水凝胶的流变学特性表明，由于电荷屏蔽作用，水凝胶的刚度和溶胀随锌浓度的增加而降低。SEM分析表明Zn-PS-Chi水凝胶具有高度的多孔性，锌释放量的测定表明所有水凝胶都具有相似的释放特性。琼脂扩散测试表明，Zn-PS-Chi水凝胶具有广谱的抗菌活性。Zn-PS-Chi水凝胶的呈现特性突出了其作为伤口敷料的潜在用途。