Thermoelectric materials for skin wound healing

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.