5 Polymer-based nanocomposites for smart and functional textiles

This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive outlook and understanding of how nanocomposites can be utilized in the emerging domain of functional and smart textiles. The first section explains the correlations between the structure and properties of nanocomposites. The second section deals with the discussions of the different nanoparticles used in polymer nanocomposites. The third section discusses the different forms in which polymer nanocomposites can be integrated into smart textiles. The final section of the chapter primarily focuses on the applications of such functional and smart textiles in different domains like energy harvesting, improving dyeability of textiles, self-cleaning, antibacterial activity, fire protection, gas barrier, and weather resistance applications, emphasizing the structure-property relationship required for a particular domain. The present challenges that hinder the incorporation of nanomaterials in developing novel functional and smart textile and the future trends in this domain have also been examined.