The work aims to review the application of polydopamine in the field of structural color rendering and its research progress at home and abroad, and provide theoretical basis for further research on the application of structural color rendering functional materials in the fields of printing pigments, display, stealth, anti-counterfeiting, intelligent materials and color sensor. The research status of polydopamine in structural coloring materials at home and abroad was summed up, the reaction mechanism, performance characteristics and purification methods of polydopamine were briefly introduced, and the application and progress of the material in the field of structural color rendering were emphatically analyzed, as well as the challenges and development trends of polydopamine in the application of structural color rendering materials were summarized. By combining polydopamine with crystal materials, the structural color materials with high saturation, isotropy and environmental protection are prepared, which have great potential application value in printing, packaging, sensing and other related fields, and provide a new idea for the future research in the field of structural color rendering.