9. Textile Applications

The textiles industry serves many different segments in a diverse market. Because the market is mainly segmented to personal textiles (normal clothing including sports textiles), technical textiles (the textiles used by labor, firemen and military) and the fabrics used in households and automobiles. This chapter shows how nanomaterials could impart unique and innovative features to the fabrics used in different segments, for example self-cleaning, ultraviolet blockade, wrinkle resistant or even flame resistant. In addition, nanotechnology facilitated the integration of wearable electronics with textiles. Such wearable electronics could help patients monitor their medical conditions regularly or could enable sportsmen to monitor and improve their performances. Nanotechnology currently enjoys an excellent opportunity to penetrate the textiles market strongly because the high prices associated with the development and manufacture of a single nanofeature could be compensated by applying such feature in different segments in a massive market at the same time.