Table 1.

Features of different types of nanocarriers.

Nanocarrier Type	Advantages	Challenges/Limitations	Safety Concerns	References
Liposome	Biocompatible Easily modifiable Large drug loading capacity Self-assembly	Fast clearance Off-target accumulation	Good safety profile	[10,11,12,16,17]
Biodegradable Polymeric Micelle	Versatile compositions Biocompatible Self-assembly Prolonged therapeutic efficacy	Relatively low drug loading capacity May reduce the effectiveness of the conjugated drug	Good safety profile	[23,24,25,26,27]
Carbon Nanotube (CNT)	Easily internalized by cells	Insoluble unless functionalized	Morphology induced toxicity Surface charge-dependent toxicity	[40,41,42,43,44,45,46]
Carbon Dot (CD)	High drug loading yield Better controllability in drug conjugation High fluorescent quality Easily internalized by cells	Slow drug release May reduce the effectiveness of a conjugated drug	Toxicity depends on surface charge PEGylated CDs that are neutrally charged present to be safe	[49,50,51,52,55,56]
Iron Oxide Nanoparticle	Potent magnetic and catalytic properties Biocompatibility High drug loading capacity	Performance directly related to size, shape, and surface charge	Conflicting toxicity evidence ROS generation	[57,58,60,61,62]
Nanogel	High biocompatibility High drug loading capacity High water content Tunable size and stability	Fast clearance Off-target accumulation Surface charge Difficulties in controlling both degradation and drug release Drug loading and targeting capacity may change when deformity occurs	Good safety profile	[63,64,65,66,67]
Dendrimer	High surface to volume ratio Capacity to entrap large molecular weight hydrophilic/hydrophobic entities	Fast clearance Off-target accumulation	Toxicity issues with cationic dendrimers	[68,69,70,72]