Enzymes encapsulated smart polymer micro assemblies and their tuned multi-functionalities: a critical review

Polymer microgels are smart materials used to fabricate and encapsulate different enzymes. Encapsulation of enzymes in the polymer gel particles prolong their life span, enhance and tune their activity in biomedical field to prevent cell damage and make possible tunable drug delivery. Enzymes are natural catalysts and have prodigious ability to make the reaction kinetically feasible. Enzymes encapsulated polymer microgels gained much attention due to their synergistic properties. Here, different methods adopted for the synthesis of enzyme encapsulated polymer microgels, their properties, and classification based on responsive behavior have been described in detail. Applications of these enzyme encapsulated polymer microgels in sensing, catalysis, environmental remediation, useful product formation, and biomedical field to prevent disabilities have also been elaborated with future directions.