Abstract
Hydrogels are used in modern wound dressings due to their ability to provide comfort with quick healing. However, poor mechanical properties of hydrogels limit their availability in commercial wound dressings. Nonwovens are highly porous, strong, and flexible structures that can provide support to hydrogels without compromising their properties. In this study, a cost-effective and sustainable hydroentangled nonwoven from industrial cotton waste was prepared and incorporated into alginate hydrogel for wound dressings. The novel composite of hydroentangled cotton nonwoven and alginate hydrogel was synthesized by a simple sol-gel technique. The effect of concentration of alginate hydrogel (0.5 wt%, 1 wt%, 1.5 wt %) and drying temperature (20 °C, 40 °C, 60 °C) of composite was analyzed for high wound exudates. The properties of prepared composite samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), XRD, tensile strength, tear strength, Air permeability, moisture management wound exudate test, and quantitative antimicrobial testing. Moreover, the comfort performance of these samples was evaluated by air permeability and moisture management testing. The properties of developed composites are highly dependent on the concentration of alginate and drying temperature. The results showed that maximum fluid absorbency (%) of 650 was achieved with good comfort properties. This study can help to increase the commercial availability of hydrogel-based wound dressings.