Hydrogen peroxide loaded cellulose acetate mats as controlled topical O2 delivery devices

• Sub and supercritical CO2 is an effective solvent to impregnate H2O2 into cellulose acetate (CA) mats.
• As much as 25 wt% H2O2 can be impregnated at operating conditions of 25–40 °C and 1200 psig.
• The created bandages using H2O2 loaded CA mats produce O2 in a controlled rate for 24 h.

In this study, sub and supercritical CO2 are used as effective solvents to impregnate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into cellulose acetate (CA) non-woven mats. As much as 25 wt% H2O2 can be impregnated at operating conditions of 25–45 °C and 1200 psig. Thermal gravimetric analysis shows that H2O2-loaded CA mats lose more than 60% of available H2O2 when quickly heated to 37 °C and held at this temperature for 60 min. However, in comparison, pure H2O2–H2O (50:50 w/w) solution evaporates 100% within 15 min at this same temperature. Shelf-life studies show that H2O2-loaded CA mats lose ∼50% and ∼100% of available H2O2 in 30 days, when stored at 2–8 °C and 20–23 °C, respectively. H2O2 slowly diffuses and subsequently evaporates from the CA mat at a rate determined by the diffusion of H2O2 through the CA fibers. We envision applying a thin polymer coating to the CA mat to suppress diffusional losses of H2O2, thus leading to an increased product shelf-life. These mats should find use as bandages for the continuous delivery of O2 for advanced wound care. In vitro studies presented here demonstrate that the developed bandages produce O2 at a controlled rate for 24 h.

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