Hepatocellular carcinoma is a highly prevalent malignant tumor worldwide with high morbidity and mortality. Most patients are diagnosed at the intermediate and advanced stages, thus missing the opportunity for radical treatment. For patients with unresectable intermediate and advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, transarterial chemoembolization serves as the core interventional therapeutic modality and a crucial approach to improve patients survival and prognosis. As a key link in treatment, the performance of embolic materials directly determines the completeness of tumor vascular embolization, the release efficiency of chemotherapeutic drugs and the safety of treatment. Traditional embolic materials have inherent limitations such as incomplete embolization, unstable drug release and susceptibility to inducing hypoxic tumor recurrence, which greatly restrict the clinical efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization. In recent years, with the deep integration of materials science and nanotechnology, nanomaterials are evolving into precision therapy platforms with integrating diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. This paper first systematically elaborates the structural characteristics, drugloaded embolization mechanisms of various nanomaterials, as well as the progress of relevant basic and preclinical studies. Secondly, it details the multifunctional integration capabilities of nanomaterials in drug loading and targeted delivery, responsiveness to the tumor microenvironment and external stimuli and imaging-guiding. Finally, it clarifies the existing challenges and future development directions of nanomaterial technology for hepatocellular carcinoma interventional therapy, providing a reference for the optimization of clinical practice and scientific innovation in this field.