Engineering On-Demand Magnetic Core–Shell Composite Wound Dressing Matrices via Electrohydrodynamic Micro-Scale Printing

Abstract

Herein, electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing is utilized to produce well-ordered, dual-drug loaded-magnetic core–shell matrices with high resolution. Coaxial EHD printing is used to load anesthetic lidocaine hydrochloride (LH) and antibiotic tetracycline hydrochloride (TH) in polycaprolactone (PCL) shell formulation and poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) core formulation, respectively. It is found that when the concentration of PEO is 5% w/w, the fibers exhibit optimum morphology, which is applied in the fabrication of two drug-loaded core–shell fibers. In addition, adding iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NPs) and varying the concentration of TH within the PCL shell layer influence mechanical properties, release behaviors, and cell behaviors of coaxial EHD printing matrices. The addition of Fe3O4 NPs and increasing TH amount in the fibers enhance the mechanical properties of the matrices. Results show rapid release of LH located in the PEO core fibers, while TH loaded in the shell PCL fibers is released sustainably from the coaxial printing matrices. In addition, the sustainable release period for PCL shell layer can be adjusted using Fe3O4 NPs under auxiliary magnetic field. The coaxial drug-loaded matrices also have good bioactivity, indicating the potential of the printed fibers in wound dressings.