Smart polydopamine-based nanoplatforms for biomedical applications: state-of-art and further perspectives

Thanks to rapid development of nanotechnology, studies have discovered an emerging polymer nano-material-polydopamine (PDA) inspired by natural mussels. PDA possesses many outstanding characteristics, including broad light absorption, high reactivity, simple preparation and free radical scavenging. Therefore, the diverse PDA-derived nanoplatforms have been developed for multiple applications, including tumor treatment, imaging, antibacterials and antioxidant. This review aims to outline the advancements of PDA-derived nano -materials in photothermal therapy (PTT)-assisted tumor therapy, theranostics, antibacterials, antioxidant and delivery of active molecules, including preparation methods, potential polymerization mechanism and various nanostructures of PDA as well. The existing limitations of PDA-derived nanoparticles are also rationally discussed.