Schematic diagram of the hemostatic powder's preparation, application, and mechanism.

Professor Guo Baolin's team at the Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, has developed a revolutionary ultra-fast, self-gelling, self-expanding, self-propelling, and highly adhesive procoagulant hemostatic powder to address the challenges posed by non-compressible hemorrhages.

These hemorrhages remain the leading cause of preventable death on battlefields and in cases of severe trauma. In deep trunk or junctional areas (such as the groin or armpit), traditional hemostatic methods often fail due to complex wound anatomy and the inability to apply effective pressure, leading to high mortality rates.

Current cutting-edge materials, such as the United States military's XStat™ (compressed cellulose sponges) and ResQFoam (in-situ foaming agent), provide physical blockage but also have significant drawbacks: XStat™ lacks active biochemical procoagulant functions and is difficult to remove, while ResQFoam requires professional expertise and poses a high risk if misused. Both fail to provide a rapid, secure seal against massive, active arterial bleeding.

Building on years of research published in journals such as Nature Reviews Chemistry and Advanced Materials, the team's new powder features an ultrafast physical cross-linking network of polyethylenimine (PEI) and polyacrylic acid (PAA), with dopamine-modified montmorillonite (PDA-MMT) to dramatically enhance wet-tissue adhesion.

The core innovation lies in a foaming system of protonated tranexamic acid (TXA-NH₃⁺) and sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃). Upon contact with blood (within two seconds), the powder forms a stable physical barrier and triggers a reaction that releases CO₂, driving a 400 percent volume expansion and autonomous propulsion to actively fill and seal irregular, deep bleeding sites.

The powder has demonstrated disruptive efficacy, achieving a 100 percent survival rate and a 90 percent reduction in blood loss in non-compressible subclavian artery/vein transections in systematic animal trials.

In a lethal model mimicking human trauma, the powder reduced blood loss by 98 percent and shortened hemostasis time by 96 percent without any manual pressure. The powder's overall performance surpassed that of XStat™, while also offering excellent antibacterial properties and promoting wound healing.

This research, titled Ultra-fast self-gelling self-expanding self-propelling high-adhesion procoagulant hemostatic powder for non-compressible hemorrhage hemostasis in pigs, has been published in Nature Communications.