Polymer porous materials (PPMs) are an emerging class of functional biomaterials characterized by tunable pore structures, high specific surface areas, and favorable physicochemical properties. This review highlights the classification of PPMs into inorganic, organic, and organic–inorganic hybrids, with a focus on how structural features influence their biomedical performance. Due to their unique architecture and biocompatibility, PPMs have shown significant potential in various biomedical applications, including drug delivery systems, tissue engineering scaffolds and implantable devices, biosensors, and membranes for functional coating and separation systems. For drug delivery, biodegradable and stimuli-responsive PPMs offer controlled and targeted drug release while minimizing adverse effects. In tissue engineering, PPM-based scaffolds support cell adhesion, proliferation, and extracellular matrix deposition, which would subsequently promote functional tissue regeneration. For biosensing, the high surface-to-volume ratio and selective permeability of PPMs enhance detection sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, recent advances in responsive hydrogels, antifouling filtration membranes, and bioactive coatings underscore their clinical translation potential. Despite rapid development, challenges such as precise control over pore size, mechanical–biological trade-offs, and long-term safety still remain. Addressing these limitations is critical for advancing PPMs toward clinical application in regenerative medicine, smart therapeutics, and diagnostic technologies.

Skin wound healing remains a significant clinical challenge, with traditional therapies often facing issues such as infection and secondary trauma. Thermoelectric (TE) materials possess the unique ability to convert thermal energy into electrical energy. Electrical signals generated by these materials can accelerate skin wound healing by reconstructing endogenous electric fields, modulating the inflammatory microenvironment, and promoting angiogenesis. Despite their substantial potential, a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms, biocompatibility, antimicrobial properties, and practical applications of TE materials in skin wound healing is still lacking. This review aims to highlight recent advancements in wound healing using TE materials, while integrating considerations of flexibility, biocompatibility, and antimicrobial performance to optimize TE device design. Strategies for enhancing TE performance, such as carrier concentration modulation, band engineering, and lattice thermal conductivity reduction, are discussed to balance conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient. Although challenges in biosafety and room-temperature performance regulation of inorganic materials persist, future developments in multimodal synergistic therapy, intelligent monitoring systems, and novel material design are expected to drive the clinical translation of TE materials for treating refractory wounds.

Chronic wounds resulting from burns, infections, and/or diabetes represent a significant clinical challenge due to impaired healing processes, which can lead to severe complications and even amputation. Growth factors (GFs) play crucial roles in all stages of wound healing. However, their therapeutic efficacy is compromised by rapid proteolytic degradation within the wound microenvironment, while excessive concentrations can induce detrimental side effects. Hydrogels, with their three-dimensional network structure, serve as an ideal carrier for GF delivery, protecting bioactivity and enabling controlled release. This review first summarizes the key roles of different GFs in wound healing. It then focuses on hydrogel-based GF loading strategies (noncovalent and covalent binding) and the integration of stimuli-responsive mechanisms for on-demand spatiotemporal release. Additionally, the potential of synergistic therapy combining drugs or scaffold materials with hydrogel-GF systems is discussed. Finally, the application prospects of this technology in other regenerative fields are explored.