Cucurbiturils-Mediated Noble Metal Nanoparticles for Applications in Sensing, SERS, Theranostics, and Catalysis

Noble metal nanoparticles (NMNPs), which spring up like mushrooms, are gaining momentum owing to their unique physicochemical characteristics. Cucurbiturils, a class of synthetic macrocycles with intriguing and peculiar host–guest properties, have stimulated tremendous research interest in recent years. The marriage of NMNPs with cucurbiturils is expected to integrate and enhance the excellent characteristics of both components, e.g., precisely controlled particle size, stability, assembly, surface functionality, biocompatibility, tunable optical properties, and high catalytic activities. This review systematically outlines the recent progress on the fabricating strategies and important applications of cucurbiturils-mediated NMNPs in sensing, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, theranostics, and catalysis. A brief outlook on the future development of cucurbiturils-mediated NMNPs is also presented.