Bioelectric Reawakening by a Self‐Powered Thermoelectric Hydrogel Accelerates Diabetic Ulcer Repair

Abstract

ABSTRACT Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) remains difficult to heal due to disrupted endogenous bioelectricity together with persistent infection, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Reinstating wound bioelectricity therefore represents an attractive therapeutic strategy, and thermoelectric materials are particularly suited to this purpose by harvesting the natural skin–air temperature gradient without external power input. Here, a self‐powered ionic thermoelectric dual‐network hydrogel is developed to simultaneously reconstruct wound bioelectric cues and remodel the hostile DFU microenvironment. The hydrogel generates wound‐relevant microcurrents under physiological temperature gradients, while luteolin and Zn 2 + are incorporated as complementary bioactive modules to suppress bacterial burden and excessive inflammation, thereby establishing a pro‐regenerative niche. Meanwhile, the catechol‐containing dual‐network architecture imparts strong wet adhesion and robust mechanical stability for conformal wound coverage. Mechanistically, this study provides, to our knowledge, the first evidence that thermoelectric stimulation reprograms fibroblast repair behavior through bioelectric transduction into a Ca 2 + /calmodulin‐dependent phosphoinositide 3‐kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) and extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (Erk) signaling network. The hydrogel exhibits broad‐spectrum antibacterial activity, immunomodulatory effects, and pro‐angiogenic capacity in vitro, and accelerates wound healing by 66.84% in diabetic rats. This work establishes a self‐powered strategy that integrates bioelectric restoration with microenvironment remodeling for DFU repair.