Abstract

Over the past two decades, technological advancements have enabled the development of
incredibly stimulating and accessible medical devices; however, once these devices have become
widely available, issues related to the safe disposal of the used materials and devices have arisen.
Various materials are used to fabricate advanced medical devices, including polystyrene, polyvinyl
chloride, and nylon. However, these materials take a long time to decompose within a regular
ecosystem, and traditional recycling methods are often harmful to the environment. Despite efforts
to regulate the disposal of non-recyclable wound dressings, progress has been slow. Various
industries have developed innovative wound care products and environmentally friendly processes
in response to environmental regulations and global environmental awareness. The use of starchbased
biodegradable wound dressings can make a significant contribution to environmental
protection. An innovative casting approach with a short procedure duration has been developed
and applied to produce starch-based wound dressings in accordance with various formulations in
this dissertation research. The revised formulation reduces the use of components in the
conventional preparation approach. This dissertation also examined the incorporation of non-toxic
metal-oxide particles, such as zinc oxide, into wound dressings to enhance the physical, chemical,
and biocompatibility properties. The standard methodologies were used to evaluate their
characteristics to determine whether these materials are suitable for wound dressings. A
comprehensive investigation of these materials fundamental physical properties, including
mechanical strength, elongation-at-break, surface morphology (X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), and
scanning electron microscopy (SEM)), water vapor transmission rate, swelling index, weight loss,
solubility, antibacterial activity (against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus), pH levels,
UV-Vis spectroscopy, and biodegradability, was conducted for this purpose. As a wound dressing
material, starch-based dressings demonstrate adequate degradation, water vapor transmission rate,
antibacterial activity, fluid absorption, and mechanical strength, which are all essential
characteristics. Finally, by employing the central composite design approach, a set of experiments
was further carried out to optimize the starch-based wound-dressing preparation formulas.