journal article·2026-06-12Open access

Highly Flexible and Conformable ZnO/FeGa Magnetoelectric Heterostructures for Skin wound Healing

Filippos Perdikos, Laia Bagur, Cristina Vaca, Aritz Lafuente, Joaquin Llacer‐Wintle, Bojan Ambrožič, Christina Stefani, Minsoo Kim, Goran Dražić, Darja Lisjak, Jordi Sort, Xiang‐Zhong Chen, Maria Jose Esplandiu, Salvador Pané, Carme Nogués, Josep Nogués, Andreu Blanquer, Borja Sepúlveda

Abstract

ABSTRACT Composite magnetoelectric (piezoelectric/magnetostrictive) materials are gaining an increased interest due to their appealing wireless actuation capabilities. For many applications, such as sensing, energy harvesting or cell electrostimulation, flexible and adaptable heterostructures are required. However, some of the proposed structures suffer from poor magnetoelectric performance due to their inherent stiffness and the resulting substrate clamping effects. Here, a highly flexible and conformable nanostructured ZnO(piezoelectric)/FeGa(magnetostrictive) magnetoelectric heterostructure embedded in a low Young's modulus elastomer (polydimethylsiloxane; PDMS) is presented. This heterostructure is designed to enhance wound healing via electric stimulation induced by low‐intensity and low‐frequency AC magnetic fields. In vitro testing using normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF) and human keratinocytes (HaCaT) cell cultures demonstrated high cell viability and no adverse effects under magnetoelectric stimulation. Moreover, the magnetoelectric stimulation significantly enhanced keratinocyte stratification and fibroblast collagen production, with remarkable improvements in cell migration compared to non‐stimulated cells. These results underscore the potential of highly flexible magnetoelectric heterostructures as active dressings to improve wound healing processes, especially relevant for chronic wounds and other epithelial disorders.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Wound Healing and Treatments · Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials · Planarian Biology and Electrostimulation

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) CSIC and BIST Bellaterra Barcelona Spain

Departament de Biologia Cel·lular, Fisiologia i Immunologia Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Bellaterra Spain

Instituto de Microelectronica de Barcelona (IMB‐CNM, CSIC) Bellaterra Barcelona Spain

Multi‐Scale Robotics Lab (MSRL) Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IRIS) Zürich Switzerland

Center Odličnosti Nanoznanosti in Nanotehnologije Ljubljana Slovenia

Departament de Física Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Bellaterra Spain

National Institute of Chemistry Ljubljana Slovenia

Department for Materials Synthesis Jožef Stefan Institute Ljubljana Slovenia

ICREA Bracelona Spain

International Institute for Intelligent Nanorobots and Nanosystems College of Intelligent Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing State Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Science and Technology Shanghai Frontiers Science Research Base of Intelligent Optoelectronics and Perception Institute of Optoelectronics Fudan University Shanghai China

Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Extreme Environment Functional Materials Yiwu Research Institute of Fudan university Yiwu China

Funding

Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation · HORIZON EUROPE Excellent Science · Horizon 2020 · Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca · Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación

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