Plasma-Activated Hydrogel Mask for Acne Treatment

Facial masks have a vast market in the cosmetic and medical fields. To enhance the therapeutic effects of facial masks, many additives are used, which inevitably leads to a series of problems, such as safety issues. Therefore, we proposed an efficient and safe antimicrobial plasma-activated hydrogel mask (PAHM). PAHM combines a plasma-activated ammonium acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP copolymer hydrogel (PAAH) and a plasma-activated mask substrate (PAMS). The plasma produced liquid-phase reactive species in PAAH which disrupted the cross-linking structure but had highly effective and short-term sterilizing effects. While plasma etching of cotton fibers can produce reactive functional groups, and PAMS has a long-term antimicrobial effect. Moreover, PAAH can load uniformly on PAMS and prevent water evaporation. The synergistic effect of them enhances the effectiveness and duration of PAHM. In vitro studies revealed that PAHM could kill more than 99.99% of S. aureus and P. acnes, and is effective for more than a week. In vivo experiments revealed that PAHM could effectively treat acne symptoms, inhibit the expression of inflammatory factors and reduce epidermal layer thickness without significant irritation. This work presents a novel approach to plasma application and, which has great potential for cosmetic and dermatological treatments and other applications.