Multidrug-resistant bacterial infections, especially methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, urgently require innovative antibiotic-free treatment strategies. This study designed a recombinant collagen hydrogel integrated with a biological heterojunction, which synergistically combines photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, and peroxidase-like activity to achieve multimodal antibacterial effects. The hydrogel is composed of polyvinyl alcohol, boronic acid-modified recombinant collagen, and MXene/CuTCPP biological heterojunctions through borate ester dynamic crosslinking. Under near-infrared irradiation, the biological heterojunction generates local high temperature to damage the bacterial membrane; the Schottky junction interface accelerates the photogenerated electron transfer, catalyzes the enhancement of reactive oxygen species generation, and synergistically kills bacteria and removes biofilms. In in vivo experiments, the hydrogel not only provides a biomimetic scaffold but also promotes angiogenesis by regulating macrophage polarization towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype and accelerating wound healing. This platform overcomes the trade-off between sterilization and tissue repair through the integration of coordinated energy/electric charge transfer. Innovation Points
① Triple synergistic antibacterial: Light heating, photodynamic effect and peroxidase-like activity are integrated into a single platform.
② Schottky junction enhancement: Interface engineering accelerates electron transfer and enhances the catalytic efficiency of reactive oxygen species;
③ Immune-repair coupling: Synchronously regulate macrophage polarization and angiogenesis.
Material development
1 Materials
The polyvinyl alcohol, borate ester dynamically cross-linked with phenylboronic acid-modified recombinant collagen and MXene/CuTCPP bioheterojunction are integrated to construct recombinant collagen hydrogel.
2 Functions
This hydrogel, under near-infrared irradiation, kills multi-drug-resistant bacteria and removes biofilms through the synergistic effect of photothermal effect, photodynamic effect and peroxidase-like activity, and regulates macrophage polarization to promote angiogenesis and tissue repair.
Thought extension
This work provides a new idea for the design of energy/electric charge transfer synergistic mechanisms in antibiotic-free anti-infection materials. In the future, different heterojunction combinations, interface engineering strategies, and杀菌-免疫 coupling mechanisms can be explored for their universal application in other antibiotic-resistant infection models， further promoting the transformation of trauma treatment from "single sterilization" to "sterilization-repair integration". 
Original source
Bioactive Materials (IF 20.3) Pub Date： 2026-03-11， DOI： 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.03.007 Chongyi Li， Zewen Chang， Yuxi Zhang， Shihong Shen， Lin Liu， Dan Zeng， Daidi Fan