This paper reviews the clinical application characteristics of artificial skin for external used in the treatment of burn wound at recent years. Skin is the important organ to protect the environmental stability in vivo, resist the outside invasion, evacuate moisture and regulate body temperature, as well as one component of immunity system. Subsequent to the burn injury, various damages of the organism may be related to the loss of skin barrier. Epidermal substitutes comprise the epidermal cells growing on the degradable matrix or polymer film; While dermal substitutes are shaped as a matrix with active bacterium or without cells, and they can induce the migration and proliferation of fibroblasts, together with the secretion of extracellular matrix; Full skin substitutes include both epidermal ones and dermal ones. With the progress on the biomedicines and the materials, the research regarding artificial skin also develops. However, it is still a key problem to construct an ideal artificial skin, which contains vessels and innervation, skin accessory structure and physiological function of normal skin.