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ZCP – Z-Chitosan Products Germany
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Z-Chitosan · antimicrobial materials technology

Protection that begins in the material.

Z-Chitosan combines chitosan with plant extracts into an antimicrobial system for medical devices, plastics, textiles and coatings. ZCP develops it with manufacturers, all the way to series production.

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Model illustration

Z-ChitosanUS 11,708,424 B1US 12,071,490 B2Dresden

ZCP – Z-Chitosan Products Germany, based in Dresden, develops Z-Chitosan, an antimicrobial system of chitosan and plant extracts, and works with manufacturers to bring it into medical devices, plastics, textiles and coatings.

Principle

Three steps from raw material to surface.

What Z-Chitosan is, how it gets into the material and what the literature describes about its action at the cell.

Model illustration

  1. 01 · Structure

    Chitosan meets plant extract

    Chitosan, a cationic biopolymer derived from chitin, is combined with plant extracts in a multi-stage emulsion cross-linking process. Named in the patent, among others: thyme, oregano, cinnamon and clove.

    What Z-Chitosan is

  2. 02 · Incorporation

    Four routes into the material

    In the polymer as masterbatch, on the surface as a coating, on the fibre as a finish or in formulations. Suitability for your material is assessed case by case.

    The four routes

  3. 03 · Mode of action

    Plus meets minus

    The positively charged chitosan chain binds electrostatically to negatively charged components of the cell envelope. Binding can make the membrane more permeable. This is how the literature describes it.

    Literature · Rabea et al. 2003; Kong et al. 2010

Scale Journey

From catheter to molecule.

Six steps, six orders of magnitude. Pick a step or start the journey – the scale bar follows.

Tip of a translucent silicone urinary catheter with two drainage eyes on dark glass Curved surface of silicone tubing under strong magnification Silicone surface in electron-micrograph style with grooves and a small pit Rod-shaped bacteria attaching singly and in a small cluster to a polymer surface Cut-away bacterial envelope resting on a thin coating, with a cool glow along the contact line
Application example 1 cm

1 cm

The catheter tip

A silicone urinary catheter with two drainage eyes. This is where microorganisms either settle or do not.

How Z-Chitosan works
What am I looking at?

The Scale Journey shows in six steps how small the place is where antimicrobial materials work: from the catheter tip (1 cm) to the silicone surface (1 mm), its topography (100 µm) and attaching bacteria (10 µm), down to the interface of coating and cell envelope (1 µm) and the chitosan chain (1 nm). The images are visualisations, not measurements.

Applications

Where Z-Chitosan works.

In plastics, on surfaces, in fibres and in formulations. Choose your problem.

All applications and the Material Library

Partnering

Three ways to work together.

From a licence under your own control to samples for your process – you choose how much you take on yourself.

Your industry? Check feasibility in six steps.

One click opens the Integration Designer with your industry preselected.

Step 1 of 6: choose your industry

Check feasibility

Evidence

Transparency as a principle.

Every graphic and every statement on this website carries a badge. You can see at a glance what the patent specifications describe, what comes from the literature and what a model shows.

View evidence View the patents
  • Patent

    Patent

    The statement appears in one of the two published patent specifications.

  • Literature

    Literature

    The statement comes from a published source, which we cite.

  • Model

    Model illustration

    A visualisation that shows a principle. It is not a measurement.

Row of agar plates with plastic test specimens in a biosafety cabinet in a microbiology laboratory
Illustrative image

Why

Why ZCP exists.

Healthcare-associated infections in the EU/EEA
4.3million
patients in the EU/EEA acquire at least one healthcare-associated infection every year (estimate).
Literature ECDC, point prevalence survey 2022–2023, published 2024
Deaths due to antimicrobial resistance
1.14million
deaths worldwide in 2021 were directly attributable to bacterial antimicrobial resistance.
Literature GBD 2021 Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators, The Lancet 2024; 404: 1199–1226

Figures as of 09/2026

Empty, bright hospital corridor in the morning, sunlight falling through tall windows onto the floor
Illustrative image

Surfaces and materials are one route of transmission among many. Z-Chitosan addresses the place where microorganisms settle: the material itself.

Insights

For development, hygiene and purchasing.

Expert articles with sources – to get up to speed, compare and share.

All articles

Let’s talk about your material.

Describe your project in six steps or book a meeting with the team straight away.

Check feasibility Book a meeting