Bioinspired Fe-polyphenol nanozymes: harnessing natural coordination assembly for biomedical applications

Fe-polyphenol nanozymes are assembled from natural polyphenols and Fe ions via coordination. They combine polyphenol bioactivity with iron based enzyme like catalysis. This review covers their composition, classification, performance, and applications. Based on polyphenol types, we summarize the morphology, coordination mechanism, iron valence, and loading capacity of systems including tannic acid, curcumin, quercetin, gallic acid, and polydopamine. These nanozymes exhibit multiple enzyme like activities: peroxidase like, superoxide dismutase like, and catalase like. They achieve targeted lesion delivery via passive or active targeting and respond to pH, enzymes, or substrates. In applications, Fe-polyphenol nanozymes improve tumor therapy through cascade catalysis, multimodal synergy, and hypoxia relief. They reduce inflammation by scavenging reactive oxygen species and modulating immune balance. They enable simultaneous bacterial killing and tissue regeneration in antimicrobial and wound repair settings. They also show high sensitivity in sensing and detection. Finally, we discuss future directions in standardized evaluation, AI-assisted design, in vivo mechanism, and clinical translation.