Functional Compression Fabrics with Dual Scar-Suppressing and Antimicrobial Properties: Microencapsulation Design and Performance Evaluation

Pressure therapy combined with silicone has a significant effect on scar hyperplasia, but limitations such as long-term wearing of compression garments (CGs) can easily cause bacterial infection, cleanliness, and lifespan problems of CGs caused by the tedious operation of applying silicone. In this study, a compression garment fabric (CGF) with both inhibition of scar hyperplasia and antibacterial function was prepared. A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-loaded microcapsule (PDMS-M) was prepared with chitosan quaternary ammonium salt (HACC) and sodium alginate (SA) as wall materials and PDMS as core materials by the complex coagulation method. The PDMS-Ms were finished on CGF and modified with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) to obtain PDMS-M CGF, which was further treated with HACC to produce PDMS-M-HACC CGF. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy(XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis confirmed the formation of covalent bonding between PDMS-M and CGF. The PDMS-M CGF exhibited antibacterial rates of 94.2% against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli, AATCC 6538) and of 83.1% against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, AATCC 25922). The antibacterial rate of PDMS-M-HACC CGF against both E. coli and S. aureus reached 99.9%, with wash durability reaching grade AA for E. coli and approaching grade A for S. aureus. The finished CGF maintained good biocompatibility and showed minimal reduction in moisture permeability compared to unfinished CGF, though with decreased elastic recovery, air permeability and softness. The finished CGF of this study is expected to improve the therapeutic effect of hypertrophic scars and improve the quality of life of patients with hypertrophic scars.