Abstract

Developing dressing for wound dressings represents a significant challenge for the scientific community. In this study, a conductive hydrogel was synthesized to promote the wound-healing process. This hydrogel is composed of silk fibroin (SF), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and glycerol (G). The impact of modifying the SF:rGO ratio, and the G content (%), on the physicochemical and biological properties. The hydrogels were characterized using FT-IR, SEM, XRD, TGA, swelling, mechanical resistance, and conductivity. The cytotoxicity of the materials and their wound-healing capacity in human fibroblasts were also determined. Chemical analysis revealed that the gelation of SF occurs due to the formation of ? sheet structures, which was confirmed by the shift from amide I to amide II. An Increase in the SF:rGO ratio favored swelling behavior, although increasing G reduced this effect. The swelling of the hydrogel followed a Fick diffusion mechanism. Furthermore, the increase in the SF:rGO ratio and the percentage G improved the conductivity of the materials. The hydrogels were found to be non-cytotoxic to human fibroblasts, and those containing rGO exhibited superior wound healing capacity compared to the positive control cell culture medium. Therefore, SF:rGO hydrogels could be considered promising candidates for wound dressing. © 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.