10 Protective smart and functional textiles

Abstract

Protective textiles are a class of functional textiles that serve as a shielding medium to guard people from the dangerous impact, weather, harmful gases, fire, and pathogens. Hence, they are an essential requirement that demands great precision in design and development. The functionality of protective textiles has been improved over the years with the advent of smart materials and nanotechnology. The advantage of textiles is that with judicious designing, it is possible to integrate these supporting elements of smartness without affecting the wearability. Further, the application of nanotechnology has been reported to enhance the functionality. This chapter demonstrates protective textiles that have been developed for ballistic and impact resistance, for extreme cold weather resistance, for protection against hazardous nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare agents, and for flame retardancy. Special attention has been given to the advantages of nanotechnology that has been incorporated into the design and development of the protective smart and functional textiles. While in certain cases such as in liquid body armour, the use of nanotechnology has seen some level of commercial success, in other cases as in the application of nanosilver for extreme cold weather clothing, the success of nanotechnology is still limited to laboratories. However, with intensive research and increasing demand for enhanced performance, nanotechnology will receive more acceptance and recognition from industries. This aspect is discussed as part of challenges that protective smart and functional textiles face today and the opportunities that are present for researchers, academicians, and industries to unfold.