Polymer‐Based Radiative Cooling Materials for Biomedical Applications: Design Principles, Current Progress, and Future Perspectives

ABSTRACT

Radiative cooling has emerged as an energy‐free thermal management strategy with increasing relevance to biomedical materials and devices, particularly in applications requiring lightweight, flexible, and skin‐conformal platforms. Among the available material systems, polymers are especially attractive because their intrinsic infrared‐active molecular bonds support mid‐infrared emission, while their versatile processability enables porous, fibrous, and composite microstructures that enhance solar reflection. This review summarizes the fundamental principles of polymer‐based radiative cooling and outlines the major material design strategies, including porous polymers, fibrous and textile architectures, and polymer‐based composites. It also reviews the current progress in biomedical‐related applications, with a focus on wound management, wearable healthcare materials, and skin‐interfaced bioelectronics. Existing studies indicate that polymer‐based radiative cooling materials can contribute not only to passive heat dissipation but also to wound microenvironment regulation, thermal comfort, and device stability. However, the field remains at an early stage, and most reported systems are still limited to proof‐of‐concept demonstrations. Major translational challenges include biocompatibility, sterility, moisture management, long‐term mechanical durability, and scalable manufacturing.