Advances in Smart Responsive Nanofibers for Wound Healing

Wound healing, particularly chronic wound healing, is a complex and dynamically regulated process that is commonly challenged by wound infection caused by the invasion of various bacteria. The emergence of nanofibers has overcome the limitations of traditional wound dressings in clinical applications, and has further evolved into smart responsive wound dressings with specific capability to perceive both endogenous and exogenous stimuli and produce dynamic responses. Accordingly, this article reviews the latest research advances in smart responsive nanofibers as wound dressings, and systematically elaborates the types of substrate materials and various preparation methods for nanofibers. In particular, the nanofibers prepared by electrospinning (such as ultrasound (US) responsive nanofiber dressing) have demonstrated unique potential in the construction of smart responsive wound dressings due to their high specific surface area and porosity characteristics. Most importantly, the incorporation of different types of stimuli constructs smart responsive nanofiber dressings, which not only provides a novel therapeutic strategy for wound healing, but also outlines future research directions for the development of smart responsive nanofibers.