Work

Strain‐Programmable Luminescent Adhesive Patch With Tartrazine‐Mediated Optical Skin Clearing for Photochemical Tissue Bonding

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT Phototherapy offers a non‐pharmacological modality for wound repair used in routine clinical practice. However, the wavelength‐dependent absorption and scattering within the skin markedly attenuate the penetration depth of visible light at the therapeutic target. Herein, we develop a strain‐programmable luminescent adhesive patch with tartrazine (Tar)‐mediated optical skin clearing for photochemical tissue bonding (PTB). Hyaluronic acid (HA) facilitates the transdermal delivery of Tar to improve optical skin clearing and stabilizes its interaction with a photosensitizer. Optical skin clearing increases the visible‐light penetration into skin tissues and the patch mechanically contracts the wound gap while emitting sustained green luminescence to photoactivate rose bengal (RB) for collagen crosslinking. In a murine incisional wound model, a single treatment accelerates collagen fibrillogenesis, increases interfacial tensile strength, and produces continuous wound‐edge apposition with organized collagen deposition and modulated inflammatory markers. These findings point to a practical application to light‐based wound sealing that complements sutures and would open a big avenue for further biophotonic applications in dermatology and tissue regeneration.

Source: Advanced Functional Materials

DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202529087