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Smart Nanotextiles Applications: A General Overview

Nazire Deniz Yilmaz*

Department of Textile Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Usak University, Usak, Turkey

Abtract

Smart nanotextiles form a novel group of materials that are utilized/can be utilized in an array of application areas, such as biomedicine (health monitoring, controlled drug release; wound care, and regenerative medicine), communication, sports, fashion, energy harvesting, protection, filtration, civil and geotechnical engineering, transportation, and so on, including wearable and technical fields. Whereas textiles provide a convenient platform for smart functionality, nanotechnology assures that the favorable characteristics of the textile structure are not impaired by the smart functioning components. Furthermore, based on superior characteristics of nanostructured components in comparison to macro materials and micromaterials, nanomaterials provide augmented smart functionality. Despite the fact that immense research efforts have been devoted to smart nanotextiles, most of them have not been yet transcend commercialization stage due to challenges comprising high cost, difficulty in large-scale production, low reliability, potential detrimental effects of nanomaterials for human health and the environment. If these issues can be addressed soundly, smart nanotextiles, as a member of smart nanomaterials, can be considered as the material of the future possessing the capability to improve people's living standards immensely.

Keywords: Smart nanotextiles, intelligent textiles, e-textiles, smart textiles, electronic textiles, applications, nanotechnology, wearable

1.1 Introduction

Textiles have been utilized by humankind for millenia for clothing due to their outstanding properties, including breathability, flexibility, durability and washability [1]. In recent years, textiles have started to be utilized as a platform for personal electronics, such as sensors, displays, batteries; in addition to their conventional uses. Textiles carry great promise for smart functionalities to serve as smart textiles. Development of nanotechnology has allowed better integration of smart functionality components in textiles for better comfort and aesthetic performance. Thus, smart nanotextiles merge the possibilities of textiles and the potential of nanotechnology to provide improved quality service in different areas including wearable and technical applications [2, 3].

Hence, smart nanotextiles have become the topic of intense research efforts. Smart nanotextiles have found/may find use in different areas like medicine & healthcare, drug delivery, tissue engineering, sports, communication, fashion, energy harvesting, protection, filtration, civil & geotechnical engineering, and transportation fields among others. Accordingly, development of smart nanotextiles is the result of multidisciplinary research efforts including textile technology, materials science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, chemistry, electronics, nanotechnology, and others [3, 4].

Smart textiles mean fibrous structures that are able to sense and react to external stimuli, such as the changes in the mechanical, electrical, optical, chemical, etc., properties of the environment. Furthermore, smart textiles allow generation of communication; power harvesting, storage and transmission; provide interconnection so that a network of information processing devices is established to carry out smart functions [3, 5].

The miniaturization of smart textile components allows seamless incorporation of smart functionalities. This has led to increased penetration of smart textiles in the market [6] due to enhanced mechanical flexibility, user-friendliness, aesthetics, comfort, noninvasiveness [7]. Advancement in nanotechnology accelerates miniaturization and carries this concept into a further extent [8]. Whereas textiles provide a convenient platform for smart functuality, nanotechnology assures that the favorable characteristics of the textile structure are not impaired by the smart functioning components.

The feature that renders the smart textiles revolutionary is their capability to carry out functions that conventional fabrics cannot do, such as communication, energy generation, and information processing [9].

Conventional wearables, such as smart-wristbands, watches, glasses, mostly include rigid components, which impair comfortable and effective use. This situation limits their use in daily life outside the lab. It is essential to get rid of these bulky rigid devices to achieve better wearability and improved usefulness [7]. Thanks to miniaturization, which is fueled by emergence of nanotechnology, it has been possible to seamlessly integrate smart devices in textiles [2].

More and more people demand to obtain real-time information related to their health status, physical performance, and data related to the environmental conditions, such as environmental pollution or presence of hazardous substances. Furthermore, the rise in the population of elderly people, increased burden on healthcare delivery system, as well as the search for detection of pathologies with reduced risk of contracting or transmitting diseases, like COVID-19 infection, has lent impetus to development of remote health monitoring by use of smart textiles [2].

Studies on smart textiles, supported by miniaturization fueled by nanotechnology, provides novel noninvasive conformal solutions without impairing the exceptional textile and aesthetic features in different areas, like everyday life, healthcare, and technical applications, where textiles serve outside the "wearable" region, such as filtration, transportation, and civil engineering applications [2, 3].

In order to build a smart textiles product, some components are needed. These are sensors, actuators, connection components, as well as data processing and power supply elements. Sensors sense physical, chemical, and biological differences in the medium; actuators react to stimuli via actions, like color and shape changing or light emitting. Connection components convey signals, like electricity, radio frequencies, and others. They include conducting elements, antennae, radio frequency identification (RFID), circuits and alike. Data processing units, which execute program directives, store data, whereas power supply provides energy that is necessary to carry out smart functionality [2, 10, 11].

These smart functioning components can be integrated into textiles by different means: (1) classical electronic devices can be attached to textiles, (2) miniature components can be embedded onto textiles, (3) textiles themselves can be produced as smart functioning devices. By use of microelectronic devices, the second approach can be taken. Emergence of nanotechnology allows realization of the third approach [2, 11]. With the accelerated miniaturization fueled by advanced nanoscience and nanotechnology, now it is possible to impart smart functionality on a single fiber alone. With cost-efficient textile production processes; one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional smart textiles can be obtained [1].

The emergence of smart nanotextiles is timely and groundbreaking as the possibilities they offer are inconceivable. Smart nanotextiles combine opportunities brought by miniaturization of electronics, well-established textile technology practices, and developments in nanotechnology, to name a few. Research in smart nanotextiles forms a nascent field which is influenced by and have the potential to influence different disciplines, including materials science, data analytics, and fashion [3, 12].

This chapter attempts to provide an introductory overview of smart nanotextiles in terms of their current and future applications. The application fields for which the use of smart nanotextiles are investigated include medicine and healthcare (health status monitoring [13], targeted drug release [14, 15], and wound dressing & regeneratative medicine [16]), communication [17], sports [18], fashion [19, 20], energy generation [21], protection & defense [22], filtration [23], civil & geotechnical engineering [24], and transportation [25] areas.

This chapter has been organized as follows. The remainder of the chapter starts with presenting general information on textiles and discussing the features rendering textiles ideal for smart functionality. The following section introduces a brief history of smart nanotextiles succeeded by sections referring to terminology and classification related to smart nanotextiles. The following sections, presenting general information on nanotechnology, nanomaterials, and nanocomposites, comes before the section related to materials selection elaborating on characteristics required by smart functionality applications and sensors, which possess utmost important part in smart functionality. The succeeding section provides insight to the current status of global smart textiles and nanotextiles market, followed by sections highlighting their different wearable and technical application fields. The last two sections discuss challenges and opportunities in relation with the future advancement of smart nanotextiles and conclude the chapter. It is obviously impossible to present all relevant work in a book, let alone a chapter. Thus, findings of some most recent research studies have been shared in order to provide a glimpse of the current trends in this emerging field. One goal of this chapter is to allow exchange of developments related to smart nanotextiles across different application areas and to stimulate...