Intelligence Unit, Clarke, Modet & C°, Lavalle 190, 3° Piso, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Recent Pat Nanotechnol. 2013 Jan;7(1):56-80.
Cellulose nanoparticles (i.e. cellulose elements having at least one dimension in the 1-100 nm range) have received increasing attention during the last decade. This is not only evident in academic articles, but it is also manifested by the increasing number of nanocellulose patents that are published every year. In the current review, nanocellulose patents are reviewed using specific software which provides valuable information on the annual number of patents that have been published throughout the years, main patent owners, most prolific inventors, and patents on the field that have received more citations. Patent statistics on rod-like cellulose nanoparticles extracted from plants by acid hydrolysis (nanocrystals), mechanical treatment leading to microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), and microbially produced nanofibrils (bacterial cellulose, BC) are analyzed in detail. The aim of the current review is to provide researchers with patent information which may help them in visualizing the evolution of nanocellulose technology, both as a whole and also divided among the different nanosized particles that are currently the subject of outstanding scientific attention. Then, patents are not only analyzed by their content, but also by global statistics which will reveal the moment at which different cellulose nanoparticles technologies achieved a breakthrough, the relative interest received by different nanocellulose particles throughout the years, the companies that have been most interested in this technology, the most prolific inventors, and the patents that have had more influence in further developments. It is expected that the results showing the explosion that nanocellulose technology is experiencing in current days will still bring more research on the topic and contribute to the expansion of nanocellulosics applications.
纤维素纳米颗粒（即至少有一个维度在 1-100nm 范围内的纤维素单元）在过去十年中受到了越来越多的关注。这不仅体现在学术文章中，也体现在每年公布的纳米纤维素专利数量不断增加上。在目前的综述中，使用特定的软件审查了纳米纤维素专利，该软件提供了有关多年来公布的专利数量、主要专利所有者、最多产的发明人以及获得更多引用的专利领域的有价值信息。详细分析了通过酸水解（纳米晶体）从植物中提取的棒状纤维素纳米颗粒、机械处理导致的微原纤维纤维素（MFC）和微生物产生的纳米纤维（细菌纤维素，BC）的专利统计数据。本综述的目的是为研究人员提供专利信息，帮助他们了解纳米纤维素技术的发展，既包括整体发展，也包括目前受到广泛关注的不同纳米颗粒的发展。然后，不仅通过专利内容进行分析，还通过全球统计数据进行分析，这些数据将揭示不同纤维素纳米颗粒技术何时取得突破、不同纳米纤维素颗粒多年来获得的相对关注度、对这项技术最感兴趣的公司、最多产的发明人以及对进一步发展影响最大的专利。预计，当前纳米纤维素技术爆炸式发展的结果将带来更多的相关研究，促进纳米纤维素材料应用的扩展。
