A multifunctional quaternary chitosan/sericin composite sponge for antibiosis and hemostasis

Effective management of traumatic and infected wounds remains challenging because hemorrhage, bacterial contamination, and impaired early repair often occur simultaneously. This study designed a multifunctional composite sponge via physical cross-linking between quaternary chitosan (QCS) and silk sericin (SER), further loaded with dicresulene diammonium (Di). The QCS/SER/Di sponge was systematically evaluated for its physicochemical properties, biocompatibility and functional performance. The sponge formulations exhibited hemolysis ratios below 5%, while significantly enhancing fibroblast migration and proliferation. Furthermore, the QCS/SER/Di sponge reduced viable Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli by more than 99% within 12 h and caused marked disruption of bacterial membrane integrity. During in vitro hemostasis tests, it induced complete whole-blood clotting within 2 min, compared with more than 8 min in the untreated control. In the rat tail-amputation model, the sponge reduced blood loss from 1656 ± 315.2 mg in untreated animals to approximately 204 mg, with comparable hemostatic benefits observed in the liver injury hemorrhage model. When applied to infected wounds, the sponges significantly reduced the bacterial load and were associated with greater wound-area reduction, re-epithelialization and collagen deposition, increased vascular structures, and changes in selected inflammation- and repair-associated markers during the 14-day observation period. This study presents a multifunctional composite sponge platform for complex wound management which integrates rapid hemostasis and strong antibacterial activity.