Recent developments and applications of bioinspired dendritic polymers

Nowadays, the bioinspired strategy has become a prevalent guide for the design and fabrication of various novel materials. Due to their unique steric structures and rich peripheral functional groups, dendritic polymers can be designed for various bioinspired functions. This review begins with a brief introduction on the preparation of dendritic polymers, followed by the discussion of their physicochemical and biological properties. Then, a detailed review will focus on their bioinspired applications such as artificial proteins, virus, enzymes, cellular structures and light harvesting antenna, including our own studies. This review highlights the structure-function relationship of dendritic polymers to their bioinspired applications. Finally, an outlook will be proposed about the developing trends and challenges in this field.