Hollow structures as drug carriers: Recognition, response, and release

Hollow structures have demonstrated great potential in drug delivery owing to their privileged structure, such as high surface-to-volume ratio, low density, large cavities, and hierarchical pores. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of hollow structured materials applied in targeting recognition, smart response, and drug release, and we have addressed the possible chemical factors and reactions in these three processes. The advantages of hollow nanostructures are summarized as follows: hollow cavity contributes to large loading capacity; a tailored structure helps controllable drug release; variable compounds adapt to flexible application; surface modification facilitates smart responsive release. Especially, because the multiple physical barriers and chemical interactions can be induced by multishells, hollow multishelled structure is considered as a promising material with unique loading and releasing properties. Finally, we conclude this review with some perspectives on the future research and development of the hollow structures as drug carriers.

Automated summary

Hollow structures show great potential in drug delivery due to their unique features such as high surface-to-volume ratio, low density, large cavities, and hierarchical pores. They are widely used in targeting recognition, smart response, and drug release, with advantages including large loading capacity, controllable release, and flexibility in application. Hollow multishelled structures are particularly promising for their unique loading and releasing properties induced by multiple physical barriers and chemical interactions.