Gallium liquid metal-driven engineering of glutathione-silk sericin microenvironments embedded in electrospun polycaprolactone scaffolds for antibacterial and tissue regeneration

Chronic wounds remain difficult to treat because infection control often comes at the expense of the cellular processes required for tissue repair. Here, we develop a gallium liquid-metal biointerface that couples antibacterial activity with support for epithelial recovery. Oxidation of liquid gallium generates a GaOOH-rich surface that promotes the nucleation and retention of silver nanocrystals, creating a stable Ga-Ag interface capable of releasing Ga3+ and Ag+ in a controlled manner. A silk sericin corona further stabilises the particles, improves their interaction with the surrounding matrix and provides a biologically compatible surface for cell attachment. The resulting nanoalloys were incorporated into electrospun polycaprolactone nanofibers with an architecture that resembles the extracellular matrix. Within this scaffold, gallium interferes with bacterial iron-dependent processes while silver provides complementary antibacterial activity, allowing strong bacterial suppression at comparatively low silver exposure. This antimicrobial effect was achieved without compromising keratinocyte viability or epithelial organisation in vitro. These findings show that liquid gallium can serve as an active interfacial component that regulates both metal ion delivery and biological response, rather than acting simply as a carrier for silver. By combining antimicrobial activity, controlled ion release and tissue-compatible surface chemistry within an ECM-mimetic scaffold, this platform offers a route towards wound materials that address infection while retaining the conditions needed for epithelial repair.