Hybrid nanomaterials based on inorganic nanoparticles and polymers are highly interesting structures since they combine synergistically the advantageous physical-chemical properties of both inorganic and polymeric components, providing superior functionality to the final material. These unique properties motivate the intensive study of these materials from a multidisciplinary view with the aim of finding novel applications in technological and biomedical fields. Choosing a specific synthetic methodology that allows for control over the surface composition and its architecture, enables not only the examination of the structure/property relationships, but, more importantly, the design of more efficient nanodevices for therapy and diagnosis in nanomedicine. The current review categorizes hybrid nanomaterials into three types of architectures: core-brush, hybrid nanogels, and core-shell. We focus on the analysis of the synthetic approaches that lead to the formation of each type of architecture. Furthermore, most recent advances in therapy and diagnosis applications and some inherent challenges of these materials are herein reviewed.

Dendronization is a synthetic methodology that offers important advantages. The resulting products, which are called dendronized materials, present new and specific properties. This review shows numerous examples in which individual dendrons are used as building blocks to prepare more complex arrays via covalent or non-covalent interactions. In particular, it points out how the structural information programmed into the dendritic architecture can be used in the dendronization process to generate nanostructures with specific tailored properties. We emphasize the use of different dendrons, with diverse chemical structure and size, to functionalize diverse substrates like linear polymers, and plane and curved inorganic surfaces. Apart from this, the review also demonstrates that self-assembly represents an ideal approach to create well-defined hyperbranched surfaces and it includes some discussion about the ability of both organic and inorganic building blocks to direct this process.

Advances in radiotherapy technology during the last 25 years have significantly improved both dose conformation to tumors and the preservation of healthy tissues, achieving almost real-time feedback by means of high-precision treatments and theranostics. Owing to this, developing high-performance systems capable of coping with the challenging requirements of modern ionizing radiation is a key issue to overcome the limitations of traditional dosimeters. In this regard, a deep understanding of the physicochemical basis of gel dosimetry, as one of the most promising tools for the evaluation of 3D high-spatial-resolution dose distributions, represents the starting point for developing new and innovative systems. This review aims to contribute thorough descriptions of the chemical processes and interactions that condition gel dosimetry outputs, often phenomenologically addressed, and particularly formulations reported since 2017.

Nanoparticle-cored dendrimers (NCDs) are now offering themselves as versatile carriers because of their colloidal stability, tunable membrane properties and ability to encapsulate or integrate a broad range of drugs and molecules. This kind of hybrid nanocomposite aims to combine the advantages of stimuli-responsive dendritic coatings, in order to regulate the drug release behaviour under different conditions and improve the biocompatibility and in vivo half-time circulation of the inorganic nanoparticles. Size, surface chemistry and shape are key nanocarrier properties to evaluate. Here, we have reviewed the most recent advances of NCDs in drug delivery systems, compared their behaviour with non-dendritic stabilized nanoparticles and highlighted their challenges and promising applications in the future.

Stimuli-responsive nanogels offer promising perspectives for the development of next generation formulations for biomedical applications. In this work, poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) nanogels were synthesized varying the concentration of monomer and crosslinking agent. Thus, the inhibitory effect of poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) nanogels against HIV-1 infection is presented for the first time. In particular, we have demonstrated that one of the synthesized poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) nanogels with initial concentration of 80 mg of vinylcaprolactam and 4% of crosslinking agent shows antiviral behavior against HIV-1 infection since this nanogel inhibits the viral replication in TZM.bl target cells.