Cutaneous wounds, especially those complicated by infections with multidrug-resistant pathogens, have posed a formidable clinical challenge (Zhang et al., 2025, Uberoi et al., 2024). Standard-of-care interventions such as debridement, systemic antibiotics and drainage operate through largely singular mechanisms, and although commonly employed together, they still fail to orchestrate the multifactorial pathobiology of non-healing tissue, often culminating in arrested or delayed wound closure (Martin et al., 2024, Ding et al., 2022). Therefore, photothermal therapy (PTT) has garnered considerable attention owing to its non-invasive nature, low systemic toxicity, target specificity, and inherent circumvention of antibiotic resistance (Liu et al., 2025, He et al., 2023). By converting near-infrared light into localized hyperthermia, photothermal agents eradicate both planktonic and biofilm-embedded pathogens while modulating the wound microenvironment (Wang et al., 2024a, Fu et al., 2023). Nevertheless, extant photothermal agents frequently suffer from photodegradation, suboptimal stability, and arduous synthetic routes, collectively impeding their clinical adoption (Lou et al., 2026, He et al., 2024). Consequently, the development of naturally derived or bio-inspired agents that integrate high photothermal conversion efficiency, exceptional photostability, and scalable accessibility has become a clear need for advancing PTT toward routine clinical use.

Curcumin, the polyphenolic pigment of Curcuma longa L., exhibits broad anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities (Wang et al., 2025a, Hasanzadeh et al., 2020). However, its clinical translation as a photothermal agent is hindered by low conversion efficiency, rapid photobleaching, and negligible aqueous solubility (Yuan et al., 2025, Zhao et al., 2024a). Installation of a difluoroboron (BF₂) chelate to curcumin rigidifies the π-conjugated backbone, enhances non-radiative decay, and increases photothermal conversion while suppressing photodegradation (An et al., 2024, Paisley et al., 2021, Wang et al., 2021a, Fang et al., 2020). However, the resulting difluoroboron-curcumin (DF-Cur) remains hydrophobic and, upon light irradiation, induces heat-shock proteins (HSPs) that endow bacteria with transient thermotolerance (Huang et al., 2024, Xue et al., 2025, Overchuk et al., 2023, Khan et al., 2025a). Liposomes have attracted considerable attention because of their superior drug-delivery capacity, excellent biocompatibility, and intrinsic targeting potential (Khan et al., 2024, Chu et al., 2023). Leveraging our previously developed drug-excipient-unified liposomes composed exclusively of the endogenous saponin glycyrrhizic acid (GA) (Su et al., 2025, Xu et al., 2023a), we herein encapsulate DF-Cur within this carrier. GA simultaneously solubilizes DF-Cur, down-regulates HSP expression via its intrinsic chaperone activity, and provides additional anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial synergies (Li et al., 2025a, Qian et al., 2022, Yang et al., 2017, Wang et al., 2024b), thereby enhancing the bactericidal efficacy of DF-Cur photothermal treatment. However, liposomal carriers lack mucoadhesion and are rapidly cleared from wounds, so prolonging their retention is required to achieve the full therapeutic benefit of DF-Cur photothermal therapy.

Hydrogels are widely used as wound dressings. They can embed liposomes to leverage the matrix’s adhesiveness and sustained-release capacity, prolonging liposome residence on the wound bed and enhancing therapeutic efficacy (Zhang and Khademhosseini, 2017, Li et al., 2023). Yet conventional hydrogels exhibit mechanical properties that are ill-matched to the dynamic wound environment, and their poorly controlled swelling compromises drug-release fidelity and predisposes to seroma formation (Lu et al., 2024a). Microgels have recently emerged as a promising alternative, as their interconnected macroporous architecture provides unobstructed conduits for cell infiltration that expedite re-epithelialization, while the co-delivery of bioactive cues potently stimulates angiogenesis and restores local perfusion (Xuan et al., 2024). Microgels are usually prepared by emulsion or inverse-emulsion polymerization with various polymers, and these routes involve intricate steps and tight parameter control (Hann et al., 2025). Microfluidic methods can produce particles of uniform diameter because the microchannels regulate the fluids precisely, yielding microspheres of consistent size and overcoming the polydispersity inherent in conventional techniques (Wang et al., 2023, Zhao et al., 2024b). Additionally, metal ions contribute to wound repair in several ways, and Mg²⁺ in particular modestly enhances scaffold bioactivity, buffers the acidic wound environment, reduces bacterial colonization, and supports keratinocyte proliferation and neovascularization, offering a multifaceted approach for infected wound management (Xiong et al., 2023, Guo et al., 2022, Li et al., 2024a).

Here, we present a microgel platform that integrates photothermal antibacterial activity with Mg²⁺-chelated pro-angiogenic capacity for infected-wound therapy. First, DF-Cur was loaded into liposomes in which GA replaced cholesterol, thereby improving its aqueous solubility and photothermal stability. Next, monodisperse hydrogel microspheres fabricated via microfluidic photopolymerization uniformly encapsulated these liposomes and enabled controlled release. Finally, the addition of Mg²⁺ induced chelation between catechol moieties of methacrylated dopamine within the microspheres, yielding a stable microgel network that exerts antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects while releasing bioactive species conducive to angiogenesis and wound repair. Thus, the platform offers a potentially useful strategy for cutaneous wound treatment (Fig. 1).