Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), composed of Zn ions and imidazolate ligands, is a class of metal-organic frameworks, which possesses a similar structure as conventional aluminosilicate zeolites. This material exhibits inherent porous property, high loading capacity, and pH-sensitive degradation, as well as exceptional thermal and chemical stability. Extensive research effort has been devoted to relevant research aspects ranging from synthesis methods, property characterization to potential applications of ZIF-8. This review focuses on the recent development of ZIF-8 synthesis methods and its promising applications in drug delivery. The potential risks of using ZIF-8 for drug delivery are also summarized.

The applications of the crystallization technique in the pharmaceutical industry as a purification and separation process for the isolation and synthesis of pure active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), co-crystals, controlled release pulmonary drug delivery, and separation of chiral isomers are briefly discussed using a few case studies. The effect of process variables and solvent on the polymorphism and morphology of stavudine is discussed. The implementation of external control in the form of feedback and real-time optimal control using cooling and antisolvent crystallization of paracetamol in water-isopropyl alcohol is introduced. Two methods to prepare micron-sized drug particles, namely, micro-crystallization and polymer-coated API-loaded magnetic nanoparticles for pulmonary drug delivery, are discussed. The significance of co-crystals in drug administration is highlighted using the theophylline-nicotinamide co-crystal system. Resolution of chloromandelic acid derivatives, a racemic compound, is achieved using direct crystallization and diastereomeric salts crystallization. The crystal structures of diastereomeric salts of chloromandelic acid and phenylethylamine are determined. The structure comparison between the less soluble and more soluble salts shows that weak interactions such as CH/π interactions and van der Waals forces contribute to chiral recognition when the hydrogen bonding patterns are similar.

Great interests have arisen over the last decade in the development of hierarchically porous materials. The hierarchical structure enables materials to have maximum structural functions owing to enhanced accessibility and mass transport properties, leading to improved performances in various applications. Hierarchical porous materials are in high demand for applications in catalysis, adsorption, separation, energy and biochemistry. In the present review, recent advances in synthesis routes to hierarchically porous materials are reviewed together with their catalytic contributions.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) have acquired an increasing importance in the debate on global warming as a mean to decrease the environmental impact of energy conversion technologies, by capturing the CO₂ produced from the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation and industrial processes. In this respect, post-combustion systems have received great attention as a possible near-term CO₂ capture technology that can be retrofitted to existing power plants. This capture technology is, however, energy-intensive and results in large equipment sizes because of the large volumes of the flue gas to be treated. To cope with the demerits of other CCS technologies, the chemical looping combustion (CLC) process has been recently considered as a solution for CO₂ separation. It is typically referred to as a technology without energy penalty. Indeed, in CLC the fuel and the combustion air are never mixed and the gases from the oxidation of the fuel (i.e., CO₂ and H₂O) leave the system as a separate stream and can be separated by condensation of H₂O without any loss of energy. The key issue for the CLC process is to find a suitable oxygen carrier, which provides the fuel with the activated oxygen needed for combustion. The aim of this work is to explore the feasibility of using perovskites as oxygen carriers in CLC and to consider the possible advantages with respect to the scrubbing process with amines, a mature post-combustion technology for CO₂ separation.

Heterogeneous catalysis with core-shell structures has been a large area of focus for many years. This paper reviews the most recent work and research in core-shell catalysts utilizing noble metals, specifically gold, as the core within a metal oxide shell. The advantage of the core-shell structure lies in its capacity to retain catalytic activity under thermal and mechanical stress, which is a pivotal consideration when synthesizing any catalyst. This framework is particularly useful for gold nanoparticles in protecting them from sintering so that they retain their size, structure, and most importantly their catalytic efficiency. The different methods of synthesizing such a structure have been compiled into three categories: seed-mediated growth, post selective oxidation treatment, and one-pot chemical synthesis. The selective oxidation of carbon monoxide and reduction of nitrogen containing compounds, such as nitrophenol and nitrostyrene, have been studied over the past few years to evaluate the functionality and stability of the core-shell catalysts. Different factors that could influence the catalyst’s performance are the size, structure, choice of metal oxide shell and noble metal core and thereby the interfacial synergy and lattice mismatch between the core and shell. In addition, the morphology of the shell also plays a critical role, including its porosity, density, and thickness. This review covers the synthesis and characterization of gold-metal oxide core-shell structures, as well as how they are utilized as catalysts for carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation and selective reduction of nitrogen-containing compounds.

As an advanced and new technology in molecular simulation fields, ReaxFF reactive force field has been developed and widely applied during the last two decades. ReaxFF bridges the gap between quantum chemistry (QC) and non-reactive empirical force field based molecular simulation methods, and aims to provide a transferable potential which can describe many chemical reactions with bond formation and breaking. This review presents an overview of the development and applications of ReaxFF reactive force field in the fields of reaction processes, biology and materials, including (1) the mechanism studies of organic reactions under extreme conditions (like high temperatures and pressures) related with high-energy materials, hydrocarbons and coals, (2) the structural properties of nanomaterials such as graphene oxides, carbon nanotubes, silicon nanowires and metal nanoparticles, (3) interfacial interactions of solid-solid, solid-liquid and biological/inorganic surfaces, (4) the catalytic mechanisms of many types of metals and metal oxides, and (5) electrochemical mechanisms of fuel cells and lithium batteries. The limitations and challenges of ReaxFF reactive force field are also mentioned in this review, which will shed light on its future applications to a wider range of chemical environments.

Currently, a large proportion of global fossil fuel emissions originate from large point sources such as power generation or industrial processes. This trend is expected to continue until the year 2030 and beyond. Carbon capture and storage (CCS), a straightforward and effective carbon reduction approach, will play a significant role in reducing emissions from these sources into the future if atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions are to be stabilized and global warming limited below a threshold of 2 °C. This review provides an update on the status of large scale integrated CCS technologies using solvent absorption for CO₂ capture and provides an insight into the development of new solvents, including advanced amine solvents, amino acid salts, carbonate systems, aqueous ammonia, immiscible liquids and ionic liquids. These proposed new solvents aim to reduce the overall cost CO₂ capture by improving the CO₂ absorption rate, CO₂ capture capacity, thereby reducing equipment size and decreasing the energy required for solvent regeneration.

Electrochemical water splitting is an efficient and clean strategy to produce sustainable energy productions (especially hydrogen) from earth-abundant water. Recently, layered double hydroxide (LDH)-based materials have gained increasing attentions as promising electrocatalysts for water splitting. Designing LDHs into hierarchical architectures (e.g., core-shell nanoarrays) is one of the most promising strategies to improve their electrocatalytic performances, owing to the abundant exposure of active sites. This review mainly focuses on recent progress on the synthesis of hierarchical LDH-based core-shell nanoarrays as high performance electrocatalysts for electrochemical water splitting. By classifying different nanostructured materials combined with LDHs, a number of LDH-based core-shell nanoarrays have been developed and their synthesis strategies, structural characters and electrochemical performances are rationally described. Moreover, further developments and challenges in developing promising electrocatalysts based on hierarchical nanostructured LDHs are covered from the viewpoint of fundamental research and practical applications.

Two dimensional (2D) nanocrystals of noble metals (e.g., Au, Ag, Pt) often have unique structural and environmental properties which make them useful for applications in electronics, optics, sensors and biomedicines. In recent years, there has been a focus on discovering the fundamental mechanisms which govern the synthesis of the diverse geometries of these 2D metal nanocrystals (e.g., shapes, thickness, and lateral sizes). This has resulted in being able to better control the properties of these 2D structures for specific applications. In this review, a brief historical survey of the intrinsic anisotropic properties and quantum size effects of 2D noble metal nanocrystals is given and then a summary of synthetic approaches to control their shapes and sizes is presented. The unique properties and fascinating applications of these nanocrystals are also discussed.

With the development of modern technology like high throughput screening, combinatorial chemistry and computer aid drug design, the drug discovery process has been dramatically accelerated. However, new drug candidates often exhibit poor aqueous or even organic medium solubility. Additionally, many of them may have low dissolution velocity and low oral bioavailability. Nanocrystal formulation sheds new light on advanced drug development. Due to small (nano- or micro- meters) sizes, the increased surface-volume ratio leads to dramatically enhanced drug dissolution velocity and saturation solubility. The simplicity in preparation and the potential for various administration routes allow drug nanocrystals to be a novel drug delivery system for specific diseases (i.e. cancer). In addition to the comprehensive review of different technologies and methods in drug nanocrystal preparation, suspension, and stabilization, we will also compare nano- and micro-sized drug crystals in pharmaceutical applications and discuss current nanocrystal drugs on the market and their limitations.

Polymer-based dielectric capacitors are widely-used energy storage devices. However, although the functions of dielectrics in applications like high-voltage direct current transmission projects, distributed energy systems, high-power pulse systems and new energy electric vehicles are similar, their requirements can be quite different. Low electric loss is a critical prerequisite for capacitors for electric grids, while high-temperature stability is an essential pre-requirement for those in electric vehicles. This paper reviews recent advances in this area, and categorizes dielectrics in terms of their foremost properties related to their target applications. Requirements for polymer-based dielectrics in various power electronic equipment are emphasized, including high energy storage density, low dissipation, high working temperature and fast-response time. This paper considers innovations including chemical structure modification, composite fabrication and structure re-design, and the enhancements to material performances achieved. The advantages and limitations of these methods are also discussed.

A novel method for the preparation of β-cyclodextrin grafted graphene oxide (GO-β-CD) has been developed. The GO-β-CD was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The ability of GO-β-CD to remove fuchsin acid from solution was also studied. The GO-β-CD had an excellent adsorption capacity for fuchsin acid and could be recycled and reused. The adsorption capacities of GO-β-CD for other dye pollutants such as methyl orange and methylene blue were also investigated. The absorption capacities for the three dyes are in the order: fuchsin acid>methylene blue>methyl orange.

Hydrogen was recovered and purified from coal gasification-produced syngas using two kinds of hybrid processes: a pressure swing adsorption (PSA)-membrane system (a PSA unit followed by a membrane separation unit) and a membrane-PSA system (a membrane separation unit followed by a PSA unit). The PSA operational parameters were adjusted to control the product purity and the membrane operational parameters were adjusted to control the hydrogen recovery so that both a pure hydrogen product (>99.9%) and a high recovery (>90%) were obtained simultaneously. The hybrid hydrogen purification processes were simulated using HYSYS and the processes were evaluated in terms of hydrogen product purity and hydrogen recovery. For comparison, a PSA process and a membrane separation process were also used individually for hydrogen purification. Neither process alone produced high purity hydrogen with a high recovery. The PSA-membrane hybrid process produced hydrogen that was 99.98% pure with a recovery of 91.71%, whereas the membrane-PSA hybrid process produced hydrogen that was 99.99% pure with a recovery of 91.71%. The PSA-membrane hybrid process achieved higher total H₂ recoveries than the membrane-PSA hybrid process under the same H₂ recovery of membrane separation unit. Meanwhile, the membrane-PSA hybrid process achieved a higher total H₂ recovery (97.06%) than PSA-membrane hybrid process (94.35%) at the same H₂ concentration of PSA feed gas (62.57%).

Copper has received extensive attention in the field of catalysis due to its rich natural reserves, low cost, and superior catalytic performance. Herein, we reviewed two modification mechanisms of co-catalyst on the coordination environment change of Cu-based catalysts: (1) change the electronic orbitals and geometric structure of Cu without any catalytic functions; (2) act as an additional active site with a certain catalytic function, as well as their catalytic mechanism in major reactions, including the hydrogenation to alcohols, dehydrogenation of alcohols, water gas shift reaction, reduction of nitrogenous compounds, electrocatalysis and others. The influencing mechanisms of different types of auxiliary metals on the structure-activity relationship of Cu-based catalysts in these reactions were especially summarized and discussed. The mechanistic understanding can provide significant guidance for the design and controllable synthesis of novel Cu-based catalysts used in many industrial reactions.

A novel hydrogel composite was prepared via inverse suspension polymerization using starch, acrylic acid and organo-mordenite micropowder with the crosslinker, N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide and the initiator, potassium persulfate. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy confirmed that the acrylic acid was grafted onto the backbone of the corn starch, that the organo-mordenite participated in the polymerization, and that the addition of organo-mordenite improved the surface morphology of the hydrogel composite. The swelling capacity of the hydrogel composite was evaluated in distilled water, and solutions with different pH values, and various salt solutions. It was found that the incorporation of 10 wt-% organo-mordenite enhanced the water absorbency by 144% (from 268 to 655 g·g⁻¹) and swelling was extremely sensitive to the pH values, the concentration of the salt solution and cation type. Swelling kinetics and water diffusion mechanism of the hydrogel composite in distilled water were also discussed. Moreover, the hydrogel composite showed excellent reversibility of water absorption even after five repetitive cycles and the hydrogel composite exhibited significant environmental-responsiveness by changing the swelling medium from distilled water to 0.1 mol·L⁻¹ NaCl solution. In addition, the loading and release of urea by the hydrogel composite were tested and the nutrient-slow-release capability of this material was found to be suitable for many potential applications.

Theranostic platform, which is equipped with both diagnostic and therapeutic functions, is a promising approach in cancer treatment. From various nanotheranostics studied, iron oxide nanoparticles have advantages since IONPs have good biocompatibility and spatial imaging capability. This review is focused on the IONP-based nanotheranostics for cancer imaging and treatment. The most recent progress for applications of IONP nanotheranostics is summarized, which includes IONP-based diagnosis, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), multimodal imaging, chemotherapy, hyperthermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, and gene delivery. Future perspectives and challenges are also outlined for the potential development of IONP based theranostics in clinical use.

Recent advances with Pd containing catalysts for the selective hydrogenation of acetylene are described. The overview classifies enhancement of catalytic properties for monometallic and bimetallic Pd catalysts. Activity/selectivity of Pd catalysts can be modified by controlling particle shape/morphology or immobilisation on a support which interacts strongly with Pd particles. In both cases enhanced ethylene selectivity is generally associated with modifying ethylene adsorption strength and/or changes to hydride formation. Inorganic and organic selectivity modifiers (i.e., species adsorbed onto Pd particle surface) have also been shown to enhance ethylene selectivity. Inorganic modifiers such as TiO₂ change Pd ensemble size and modify ethylene adsorption strength whereas organic modifiers such as diphenylsulfide are thought to create a surface template effect which favours acetylene adsorption with respect to ethylene. A number of metals and synthetic approaches have been explored to prepare Pd bimetallic catalysts. Examples where enhanced selectivity is observed are generally associated with decreased Pd ensemble size and/or hindering of the ease with which an unselective hydride phase is formed for Pd. A final class of bimetallic catalysts are discussed where Pd is not thought to be the primary reaction site but merely acts as a site where hydrogen dissociation and spillover occurs onto a second metal (Cu or Au) where the reaction takes place more selectively.

This review aims at the treatment of the entire landfill, including the waste mass and the harmful emissions: leachate and landfill gas. Different landfill treatments (aerobic, anaerobic and semi-aerobic bioreactor landfills, dry-tomb landfills), leachate treatments (anaerobic and aerobic treatments, anammox, adsorption, chemical oxidation, coagulation/flocculation and membrane processes) and landfill gas treatments (flaring, adsorption, absorption, permeation and cryogenic treatments) are reviewed. Available information and the gaps present in current knowledge is summarized. The most significant areas to expand are landfill waste treatments, which in recent years has begun to grow but there is an opportunity for much more. Another area to explore is the treatment of landfill gas, a very large field to which not much effort has been put forth. This review is to compare different treatment methods and give direction to future research.

Lithium-ion batteries are a key technology in today’s world and improving their performances requires, in many cases, the use of cathodes operating above the anodic stability of state-of-the-art electrolytes based on ethylene carbonate (EC) mixtures. EC, however, is a crucial component of electrolytes, due to its excellent ability to allow graphite anode operation–also required for high energy density batteries–by stabilizing the electrode/electrolyte interface. In the last years, many alternative electrolytes, aiming at allowing high voltage battery operation, have been proposed. However, often, graphite electrode operation is not well demonstrated in these electrolytes. Thus, we review here the high voltage, EC-free alternative electrolytes, focusing on those allowing the steady operation of graphite anodes. This review covers electrolyte compositions, with the widespread use of additives, the change in main lithium salt, the effect of anion (or Li salt) concentration, but also reports on graphite protection strategies, by coatings or artificial solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) or by use of water-soluble binder for electrode processing as these can also enable the use of graphite in electrolytes with suboptimal intrinsic SEI formation ability.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have emerged as a class of promising materials to prepare high-performance 2D membranes for various separation applications. The precise control of the interlayer nanochannel/sub-nanochannel between nanosheets or the pore size of nanosheets within 2D membranes enables 2D membranes to achieve promising molecular sieving performance. To date, many 2D membranes with high permeability and high selectivity have been reported, exhibiting high separation performance. This review presents the development, progress, and recent breakthrough of different types of 2D membranes, including membranes based on porous and non-porous 2D nanosheets for various separations. Separation mechanism of 2D membranes and their fabrication methods are also reviewed. Last but not the least, challenges and future directions of 2D membranes for wide utilization are discussed in brief.

A review of recent research related to microporous polymeric membranes formed via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) and the morphologies of these membranes is presented. A summary of polymers and suitable diluents that can be used to prepare these microporous membranes via TIPS are summarized. The effects of different kinds of polymer materials, diluent types, cooling conditions, extractants and additive agents on the morphology and performance of TIPS membranes are also discussed. Finally new developments in TIPS technology are summarized.

Carbon nanotubes/graphene composites have superior mechanical, electrical and electrochemistry properties with carbon nanotubes as a hydrophobicity boosting agent. Their extraordinary hydrophobic performance is highly suitable for electrode applications in lithium ion batteries and supercapacitors which often employ organic electrolytes. Also the hydrophobic features enable the oil enrichment for the crude oil separation from seawater. The ever reported synthesis routes towards such a composite either involve complicated multi-step reactions, e.g., chemical vapor depositions, or lead to insufficient extrusion of carbon nanotubes in the chemical reductions of graphene oxide, e.g., fully embedding between the compact graphene oxide sheets. As a consequence, the formation of standalone carbon nanotubes over graphene sheets remains of high interests. Herein we use the facile flash light irradiation method to induce the reduction of graphene oxides in the presence of carbon nanotubes. Photographs, micrographs, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis all indicate that graphene oxides has been reduced. And the contact angle tests confirm the excellent hydrophobic performances of the synthesized carbon nanotube/reduced graphene oxide composite films. This one-step treatment represents a straightforward and high efficiency way for the reduction of carbon nanotubes/graphene oxides composites.

Galvanic replacement, co-impregnation and sequential impregnation have been employed to prepare Pd-Cu bimetallic catalysts with less than 1 wt-% Cu and ca. 0.03 wt-% Pd for selective hydrogenation of acetylene in excess ethylene. High angle annular dark field-scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and H₂ chemisorption results confirmed that Pd-Cu single-atom alloy structures were constructed in all three bimetallic catalysts. Catalytic tests indicated that when the conversion of acetylene was above 99%, the selectivity of ethylene of these three single atom alloy catalysts was still more than 73%. Furthermore, the single atom alloy catalyst prepared by sequential incipient wetness impregnation was found to have the best stability among the three procedures used.

Amphiphilic block copolymers (ABCs) assemble into a spherical nanoscopic supramolecular core/shell nanostructure termed a polymeric micelle that has been widely researched as an injectable nanocarrier for poorly water-soluble anticancer agents. The aim of this review article is to update progress in the field of drug delivery towards clinical trials, highlighting advances in polymeric micelles used for drug solubilization, reduced off-target toxicity and tumor targeting by the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. Polymeric micelles vary in stability in blood and drug release rate, and accordingly play different but key roles in drug delivery. For intravenous (IV) infusion, polymeric micelles that disassemble in blood and rapidly release poorly water-soluble anticancer agent such as paclitaxel have been used for drug solubilization, safety and the distinct possibility of toxicity reduction relative to existing solubilizing agents, e.g., Cremophor EL. Stable polymeric micelles are long-circulating in blood and reduce distribution to non-target tissue, lowering off-target toxicity. Further, they participate in the EPR effect in murine tumor models. In summary, polymeric micelles act as injectable nanocarriers for poorly water-soluble anticancer agents, achieving reduced toxicity and targeting tumors by the EPR effect.

Over the past few decades, cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) have become an important class of drug carriers for small molecules, proteins, genes and nanoparticle systems. CPPs represent a very diverse set of short peptide sequences (10?30 amino acids), generally classified as cationic or amphipathic, with various mechanisms in cellular internalization. In this review, a more comprehensive assessment of the chemical structural characteristics, including net cationic charge, hydrophobicity and helicity was assembled for a large set of commonly used CPPs, and compared to results from numerous in vivo drug delivery studies. This detailed information can aid in the design and selection of effective CPPs for use as transport carriers in the delivery of different types of drug for therapeutic applications.

Electrolytic water splitting has been considered as a promising technology to produce highly pure H₂ by using electrical power produced from wind, solar energy or other fitful renewable energy resources. Combining novel self-supporting structure and high-performance transition metal phosphides (TMP) shows substantial promise for practical application in water splitting. In this review, we try to provide a comprehensive analysis of the design and fabrication of various self-supported TMP electrodes for hydrogen evolution reaction, which are divided into three categories: catalysts growing on carbon-based substrates, catalysts growing on metal-based substrates and freestanding catalyst films. The material structures together with catalytic performances of self-supported electrodes are presented and discussed. We also show the specific strategies to further improve the catalytic performance by elemental doping or incorporation of nanocarbons. The simple and one-step methods to fabricate self-supported TMP electrodes are also highlighted. Finally, the challenges and perspectives for self-supported TMP electrodes in water splitting application are briefly discussed.

Magnesium hydroxide with high purity and uniform particle size distribution was synthesized by the direct precipitation method using MgCl₂ and NaOH as reactive materials and NaCl as additive to improve the crystallization behavior of the product. The particle size distribution, crystal phase, morphology, and surface area of magnesium hydroxide were characterized by Malvern laser particle size analyzer, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Branauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, respectively. The purity of products was analyzed by the chemical method. The effects of synthesis conditions on the particle size distribution and water content (filtration cake) of magnesium hydroxide were investigated. The results indicated that feeding mode and rate, and reaction temperature had important effects on water content and the particle size distribution of the product, and sodium chloride improved the crystallization behavior of magnesium hydroxide. The ball-like magnesium hydroxides with the particle size distribution of 6.0–30.0 μm and purity higher than 99.0% were obtained. This simple and mild synthesis method was promising to be scaled up for the industrial production of magnesium hydroxide.

Laminar flame speeds of hydrogen/natural gas/air mixtures have been measured over a full range of fuel compositions (0–100% volumetric fraction of H₂) and a wide range of equivalence ratio using Bunsen burner. High sensitivity scientific CCD camera is use to capture the image of laminar flame. The reaction zone area is employed to calculate the laminar flame speed. The initial temperature and pressure of fuel air mixtures are 293 K and 1 atm. The laminar flame speeds of hydrogen/air mixture and natural gas/air mixture reach their maximum values 2.933 and 0.374 m/s when equivalence ratios equal to 1.7 and 1.1, respectively. The laminar flame speeds of hydrogen/natural gas/air mixtures rise with the increase of volumetric fraction of hydrogen. Moreover, the increase in laminar flame speed as the volumetric fraction of hydrogen increases presents an exponential increasing trend versus volumetric fraction of hydrogen. Empirical formulas to calculate the laminar flame speeds of hydrogen, natural gas, and hydrogen/natural gas mixtures are also given. Using these formulas, the laminar flame speed at different hydrogen fractions and equivalence ratios can be calculated.

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are smart materials that can change their shape in a pre-defined manner under a stimulus. The shape memory functionality has gained considerable interest for biomedical applications, which require materials that are biocompatible and sometimes biodegradable. There is a need for SMPs that are prepared from renewable sources to be used as substitutes for conventional SMPs. In this paper, advances in SMPs based on synthetic monomers and bio-compounds are discussed. Materials designed for biomedical applications are highlighted.

Poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)/poly(lactic acid) (PLA) microspheres/nanoparticles are one of the most successful drug delivery systems (DDS) in lab and clinic. Because of good biocompatibility and biodegradability, they can be used in various areas, such as long-term release system, vaccine adjuvant, tissue engineering, etc. There have been 15 products available on the US market, but the system still has many problems during development and manufacturing, such as wide size distribution, drug stability issues, and so on. Recently, many new and modified methods have been developed to overcome the above problems. Some of the methods are easy to scale up, and have been available on the market to achieve pilot scale or even industrial production scale. Furthermore, the relevant FDA guidance on the DDS is still incomplete, especially for abbreviated new drug application. In this review, we present some recent achievement of the PLGA/PLA microspheres/nanoparticles, and discuss some promising manufacturing methods. Finally, we focus on the current FDA guidance on the DDS. The review provides an overview on the development of the system in pharmaceutical industry.