Use of Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS) in Drug Delivery, Photodynamic Therapy and Bioimaging

Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) have attracted considerable attention in the design of novel organic-inorganic hybrid materials with high performance capabilities. Features such as their well-defined nanoscale structure, chemical tunability, and biocompatibility make POSS an ideal building block to fabricate hybrid materials for biomedical applications. This review highlights recent advances in the application of POSS-based hybrid materials, with particular emphasis on drug delivery, photodynamic therapy and bioimaging. The design and synthesis of POSS-based materials is described, along with the current methods for controlling their chemical functionalization for biomedical applications. We summarize the advantages of using POSS for several drug delivery applications. We also describe the current progress on using POSS-based materials to improve photodynamic therapies. The use of POSS for delivery of contrast agents or as a passivating agent for nanoprobes is also summarized. We envision that POSS-based hybrid materials have great potential for a variety of biomedical applications including drug delivery, photodynamic therapy and bioimaging.

Automated summary

Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) have sparked significant interest for use in novel organic-inorganic hybrid materials with high performance capabilities, particularly in biomedical applications such as drug delivery, photodynamic therapy, and bioimaging. Current research focuses on the design, synthesis, and chemical functionalization control of POSS-based hybrid materials for various biomedical applications. Further exploration of POSS-based hybrid materials holds great potential for improving drug delivery, photodynamic therapy, and bioimaging in the future.