Development of low-molecular-weight polysaccharide-based wound dressings for full-thickness cutaneous wound healing via coacervate formation.

The development of polysaccharide-based wound dressings that are easy to prepare, adhere to tissue, adapt to diverse shapes and exhibit tunable mechanical properties holds significant clinical interest. This study introduced a simple spontaneous liquid-liquid phase separation technique employing low-molecular-weight and high polyion concentration of chitosan (CS) and hyaluronic acid (HA) to fabricate CS/HA coacervates. Upon increasing the molecular weight of chitosan from 7 kDa to 250 kDa, a transition in the CS/HA coacervates from liquid-like state to an elastic liquid and eventually to a solid-like state was observed.