 This review discusses past and current efforts in developing hydrogel membranes from biopolymers and synthetic materials for wound dressing applications, highlighting the need for cross-linked hydrogels with specific properties and recent trends towards composite or hybrid hydrogel membranes to meet typical wound dressing requirements. This article was authored by Elbadoyi A. Kamauan, Elrife S. Kanoyi and Xayin Chen.