FTUI develops wound dressing hydrogel from Sargassum seaweed

Depok (ANTARA) - Dr Nurhayati, a doctoral researcher at the University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Engineering (FTUI), has produced a biomaterial innovation based on Indonesia’s marine resources by developing a wound dressing hydrogel based on cellulose nanofibre (CNF) from Sargassum seaweed, which has the potential to be a candidate material for chronic wound dressings.

“Sargassum seaweed, which has not been widely utilised until now, is processed into CNF with an average diameter of 9.50 nanometres,” Nurhayati stated in her report on Saturday.

She explained that this CNF material was then formulated with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), sodium alginate, and chitosan using the freeze-thaw method. The resulting multi-component hydrogel, with an optimal composition (5 per cent PVA, 2 per cent sodium alginate, 1 per cent chitosan, and 0.25 per cent CNF), demonstrated superior performance compared to commercial materials, featuring a swelling ratio of 156.97 per cent, a gel content of 95.81 per cent, a tensile strength of 0.48 MPa, an elongation of 371.43 per cent, and a degradation rate of 8.39 per cent within three days.

In addition to physical and mechanical aspects, this research also evaluated the biological aspects of the hydrogel. Cytotoxicity tests showed cell viability above 70 per cent, in accordance with ISO 10993-5 standards, while scratch assay tests showed a wound gap closure of 63.73 per cent within 24 hours, which was higher than the control group.

“These findings confirm the potential of Sargassum CNF as a hydrogel reinforcement for clinical applications, particularly for chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers,” she said.

The research developed also opens opportunities for the development of Sargassum as a raw material for renewable biomaterials.

The processing of local marine biomass into CNF and subsequently into hydrogel material demonstrates how biological resources that have not been optimally utilised can be processed through a material technology approach to produce products with higher added value.

Nurhayati, who is also a researcher at the BRIN Centre for Biomass and Bioproduct Research, successfully achieved a perfect GPA of 4.00 with cum laude distinction after successfully defending her dissertation titled “Fabrication of Renewable Hydrogel Reinforcement Based on Sargassum Cellulose Nanofibre as a Wound Dressing Candidate”.