Current trends in applications of nanosponges: a multifaceted drug carrier system

Nanosponges are a unique kind of nanoparticles that appears like a three-dimensional scaffold possessing a long-length polymer backbone. They bear numerous voids that are interconnected to form a sponge-like structure capable of incorporating various therapeutic moieties. The nanosponges are classified into three types such as polymer-based, metalbased, and biomaterial-based, depending upon the materials used to fabricate. For the past two decades, innumerable works on polymer-based nanosponges have been reported due to their ability to address various drug delivery issues. The current era is more concentrated towards the trending applications such as targeted drug delivery, photothermal therapy, theranostic activity, bio-responsive drug delivery, and therapeutics stability. The past few years have witnessed the development of combinational nanosponges using polymer, metal and biomaterial to address aforesaid applications efficiently. All of these advantages have made the nanosponges a unique class of drug carrier system. The current chapter describes the basics, various materials used to fabricate, merits, demerits, drug release, and drug loading mechanisms of nanosponges. Further, the most recent updates on multiple applications of nanosponges are comprehensively discussed.