Bioactive paper and fibre products: Patent and literary survey

In this patent and literary survey bioactive papers and fibre products, i.e. paper-like products, cardboard, fabrics and their combinations, etc., with active recognition and/or functional material capabilities are reviewed. The focus is on materials that specifically react with the target entity or environmental condition, and this reaction initializes different events, like a discharge of molecules or signalling function, in the product. The aim of this publication is to review and provide basic information on biomolecules and their potential utilisation for functional purposes, embedded signalling - concentrating especially on conducting polymers and optics - low-cost manufacturing on a large scale, modification of fibres and grafting or immobilisation of bioactive components. In addition, some application scenarios for bioactive paper products are presented.