Polymer nanocomposites for multifunctional finishing of textiles: a review

Improvement of existing properties and the creation of new material properties are the most important reasons for the functionalization of textiles. Polymer nanocomposites offer the possibility of developing a new class of nanofinishing materials for textiles with their own manifold of structure property relationship only indirectly related to their components and their micron and macro-scale composite counterparts. Though polymer nanocomposites with inorganic filler of different dimensionality and chemistry are possible, efforts have only begun to uncover the wealth of possibilities of these new materials. Approaches to modify the polymer nanocomposite system by various inorganic or organic substances can lead to a huge number of additional functionalities which are increasingly demanded by the textile industries. In this review, we have compiled the current research in polymer nanocomposite-based nanofinishes for multifunctional textiles which provides a snapshot of the current experimental and theoretical tools being used to advance our understanding of polymer nanocomposites and their applications in textiles.Sorna Gowri is grateful to Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, for supporting this study through a Post Doctoral Fellowship