Preparation of porous carboxymethyl chitosan grafted poly (acrylic acid) superabsorbent by solvent precipitation and its application as a hemostatic wound dressing

• The novel solvent precipitation method was developed to prepare the porous superabsorbent polymer.
• The swelling rate was promoted and the harmful residual monomer was leached after modification.
• The modified polymer showed good biological safety.
• It showed good hemostasis to arterial hemorrhage model of the animal.
• The hemostatic mechanism of the modified superabsorbent polymer was discussed.

The volume phase transition of a hydrogel initiated by shrinking may result in complex patterns on its surface. Based on this unique property of hydrogel, we have developed a novel solvent precipitation method to prepare a kind of novel superabsorbent polymers with excellent hemostatic properties. A porous carboxymethyl chitosan grafted poly (acrylic acid) (CMCTS-g-PAA) superabsorbent polymer was prepared by precipitating CMCTS-g-PAA hydrogel with ethanol. Its potential application in hemostatic wound dressing was investigated. The results indicate that the modified superabsorbent polymer is non-cytotoxic. It showed a high swelling capacity and better hemostatic performance in the treatments of hemorrhage model of ear artery, arteria cruralis and spleen of the New Zealand white rabbit than the unmodified polymer and other commonly used clinic wound dressings. The hemostatic mechanism of the porous CMCTS-g-PAA polymer was also discussed.

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