Micro-/Nanomotors toward Biomedical Applications: The Recent Progress in Biocompatibility

Abstract

Inspired by the highly versatile natural motors, artificial micro-/nanomotors that can convert surrounding energies into mechanical motion and accomplish multiple tasks are devised. In the past few years, micro-/nanomotors have demonstrated significant potential in biomedicine. However, the practical biomedical applications of these small-scale devices are still at an infant stage. For successful bench-to-bed translation, biocompatibility of micro-/nanomotor systems is the central issue to be considered. Herein, the recent progress in micro-/nanomotors in biocompatibility is reviewed, with a special focus on their biomedical applications. Through close collaboration between researches in the nanoengineering, material chemistry, and biomedical fields, it is expected that a promising real-world application platform based on micro-/nanomotors will emerge in the near future.

Keywords: biocompatibility; biodegradability; biomedical applications; micro-/nanomotors; self-propulsion.