Polyphenol-Enhanced Konjac-Alginate Hydrogel Scaffolds with Gambir-Derived Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Wound Hemostatic Management Najma Annuria Fithri, Dina Yulianti K, Tia Ashifa Maharani, Fitrya, Mardiyanto
Universitas Sriwijaya
Abstract
Uncontrolled bleeding remains a major cause of preventable mortality, emphasizing the need for biocompatible hemostatic materials with regenerative potential. This study focused on the formulation and optimization of hydrogel scaffolds based on natural polymers, alginate and konjac glucomannan (KGM), combined with iron oxide nanoparticles (IONP) synthesized from jaras gambir extract as a bioactive component. Two natural polyphenolic cross-linkers were employed: epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) from green tea (Camellia sinensis) and tannic acid extracted from coconut husk. The EGCG and tannic acid extracts exhibited total phenolic contents of 164.333 mg/L and 3689.27 mg/L gallic acid equivalent, confirming their strong crosslinking potential. A 22 factorial design was applied to evaluate the effects of polymer type (alginate or KGM) and cross-linker concentration (0.1-0.5%) on four key parameters: porosity, Blood Clotting Index (BCI), Centrifugal Retention Capacity (CRC), and moisture content. Both systems demonstrated significant effects of polymer and cross-linker concentration on all responses. In the EGCG-based system, the optimal formulation containing KGM and 0.5% EGCG achieved porosity of 1325.673%, BCI of 37.065%, CRC of 340.421%, and moisture content of 22.203%, with a desirability value of 0.944. In the tannic acid system, the KGM-based scaffold at 0.5% cross-linker concentration yielded porosity of 1139.56%, BCI of 39.06%, CRC of 269.97%, and moisture content of 25.05%, corresponding to an overall desirability of 0.74. These results indicate that polyphenolic cross-linkers significantly enhance scaffold network density, porosity, and hemostatic responsiveness while reducing residual moisture. The optimized KGM-polyphenol hydrogel scaffolds reinforced with gambir-derived IONP show great potential as natural, biocompatible, and tunable hemostatic biomaterials for advanced wound management applications.
