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The reduction of infection risk, acceleration of the wound healing process, and monitoring of changes in the wound environment are of great importance in the treatment of chronic wounds. However, infection and the associated pH changes in chronic wounds may prolong the healing process and increase the risk of complications. Therefore, there is growing interest in the development of smart wound dressings capable of real-time monitoring of pH changes and responding to changes in the wound environment.1,2 In this study, PLA-based films and electrospun nanofibrous wound dressings containing the halochromic dye Alpha-Naphtholphthalein were developed. For optimization, PLA-based films containing different concentrations of PEG6000 were prepared and evaluated before the fabrication of nanofibrous structures. The results demonstrated a distinct color change under basic conditions. Based on these findings, nanofibrous structures were fabricated using the electrospinning technique with the selected formulations. ³ The produced nanofibers were morphologically characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The obtained results indicate that the developed halochromic nanofibrous structures have the potential to enable the visual monitoring of pH changes in the wound environment. In the next stage of the study, nanofibrous structures containing bioactive agents will be developed, and their wound healing-supporting properties will be investigated. Ultimately, this study aims to develop multifunctional smart wound dressings capable of both real-time pH monitoring and supporting the wound healing process.
“This work was supported by Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University The Scientific Research Coordination Unit, Project number: FYL-2025-5327”. The authors would like to thank the Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University (BAP) for its financial support.