Electroconductive Antibacterial Bioinks Enable Electrical Stimulation Enhancement of Proliferation and Elongation of Human Skin Fibroblasts.

The limited electrical conductivity and poor antibacterial performance of many existing bioinks hinder their effectiveness in wound healing applications, where mimicking the native electrical properties of skin and preventing infection are critical. In this study, we developed multifunctional electroconductive and antibacterial bioinks designed to work synergistically with electrical stimulation (ES) therapy to overcome these limitations. These new bioinks are formulated by integrating the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) into a carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and alginate (ALG) biopolymer matrix, followed by ionic cross-linking using Ga ions.