Wound dressing materials which are capable of meeting the demands of accelerating wound closure and promoting wound healing process have being highly desired. Electrospun nanofibrous materials show great application potentials for wound healing owing to relatively large surface area, better mimicry of native extracellular matrix, adjustable waterproofness and breathability, and programmable drug delivery process. In this review article, we begin with a discussion of wound healing process and current commercial wound dressing materials. Then, we emphasize on electrospun nanofibrous materials for wound dressing, covering the efforts for controlling fiber alignment and morphology, constructing 3D scaffolds, developing waterproof-breathable membrane, governing drug delivery performance, and regulating stem cell behavior. Finally, we finish with challenges and future prospects of electrospun nanofibrous materials for wound dressings.

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Fibrous patches capable of withstanding bursting force and recruiting endogenous stem cells are of great demand for wound treatment. A programmable strategy for development of radially gradient nanofibrous patches with rapid deployment property, robust bursting bearing capability, and excellent mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) recruitment capability, is demonstrated. Benefiting from the royal water lily‐like radially branched architecture, the gradient fibrous (GF) patches exhibit fast deployment in aqueous solution (2 s), high bursting strength of 4.6 N, as well as “center‐to‐periphery” gradient immobilization of stromal‐cell‐derived factor 1α (SDF1α). The SDF1α gradient patches direct MSC migration from the periphery to the center along the aligned nanofibers, resulting in a 4.2 times higher migrated cell number and 2.6 times greater maximum migration distance than random fibrous patches with homogenous SDF1α. The gelatin methacryloyl coated GF patches respond to matrix metalloproteinase‐9 for “on‐demand” release of anti‐inflammatory drug diclofenac sodium (DS). Furthermore, repair of the mouse full‐thickness skin incision validates that SDF1α/DS/GF patches are able to provide feasible microenvironment to attenuate inflammation and improve endogenous MSC recruitment, leading to accelerated wound healing. This work may open a new pathway for development of smart tough fibrous patches for stimulating endogenous repair mechanisms during tissue regeneration.

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Despite the progression in wound treatment, the development of wound dressings with considerable skin regeneration capability and improved patient comfort still faces huge challenges. In this study, a type of asymmetric wettable gradient nanofibrous membrane, which is composed of a hydrophobic polyvinyl butyral (PVB)–polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) upper layer, a PVB–PDMS/gelatin middle layer, and a hydrophilic gelatin lower layer, has been fabricated. The PVB–PDMS upper layer gave dramatically elevated water contact angles from 71.27° to 125.45° as compared with the gelatin membrane, indicating an asymmetric wettability. The composite membrane exhibited outstanding waterproof capability with a hydrostatic pressure of 58.21 kPa, excellent breathability with a water vapor transmission rate of 8.80 kg m–2 d–1, improved stretchability and tear resistance, and dramatic improvement in mesenchymal stem cell recruitment with the immobilization of stromal-cell-derived factor-1α for accelerating skin regeneration. The development of asymmetric wettable nanofibrous membranes offers insight into wound-dressing design.