Chronic wounds pose a global challenge, often requiring the use of multifunctional materials that facilitate healing while protecting against infection. The present study develops porous, biodegradable and antibacterial composite hydrogels from chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) incorporating honey and aloe vera gel as antimicrobial agents for healing chronic wounds. Hydrogels were prepared by freeze gelation methodology, and further crosslinked with citric acid. FTIR spectra confirmed the presence of characteristic functional groups and showed a reduction in the peak intensities of O–H, N–H, and amide bands in crosslinked hydrogels. Scanning electron micrographs illustrated the clear morphological changes; citric acid crosslinked hydrogels (GG-05, GG-06, GG-08) exhibited more porous, sponge-like structures, with GG-08 achieving the highest porosity, having an average pore size of 21.28 μm. The hydrogel GG-08 demonstrated the greatest water retention capacity, reaching up to 218%, while GG-04 showed the highest degradation of 93% ± 3. The developed hydrogels exhibited better antibacterial properties, especially GG-03, GG-04, GG-07 and GG-08 had excellent activity against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Similarly, GG-01 and GG-05 showed excellent activities against Gram-negative bacterial strains, i.e. Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Klebsiella pneumonia (K. pneumonia). Anti-hemolytic testing confirmed the biocompatibility and non-toxic nature of hydrogels. The results demonstrated that citric acid addition has significantly improved the antibacterial potential against E. coli and K. pneumonia and also enhanced solution absorption, water retention and moisture content. Overall, these hydrogels demonstrated potential as advanced wound dressings, owing to their better moisture retention, broad-spectrum antibacterial properties and excellent biocompatibility.

Wound infections remain a significant clinical challenge, impeding healing and causing deterioration. Recently, multifunctional hydrogel dressings have gained interest as an effective treatment to treat infections efficiently and enhance wound recovery. The present research is focused on the development of composite hydrogels comprising chitosan (CS), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), gelatin (GEL) and licorice extract (LE), using the freeze gelation technique. The resulting composite hydrogels of CS/PVA/GEL incorporating LE were characterized by FTIR, XRD and SEM. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of specific functional groups within the molecules. XRD exhibited the amorphous nature of hydrogels. SEM analysis revealed that increasing the CS ratio in hydrogels created a more porous structure with a smaller pore size. All the hydrogels demonstrated oxygen permeability, which is crucial for the healing process. Among the synthesized hydrogels, MM-2 containing PVA (20 mL) and LE (4 mL) demonstrated superior performance with a water retention capacity of 440% and moisture content of 91%. This exceptional result can be attributed to the higher proportion of PVA and the material’s porous structure, which enhances its hydrophilic properties. The synthesized hydrogels showed good antibacterial potential against three selected strains of bacteria including Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). The hydrogels’ cytotoxicity levels were assessed through hemolysis assay and the results demonstrated that all hydrogels were non-toxic. The hydrolytic breakdown revealed that the interconnected hydrogels with licorice components exhibited slow degradation, making them more appropriate for long-term wound treatment. Specifically, MM-4 demonstrated a 74% degradation rate and displayed 75% antioxidant activity, indicating its potential effectiveness for chronic wound applications. These characteristics of synthesized CS/PVA/GEL/LE-derived hydrogels suggest their potential use as a promising candidate for wound care applications.