Smart textiles are materials that can sense and react to environmental stimuli such as temperature, light, and pressure, allowing them to adapt to changing conditions. Examples include thermochromic textiles that change color based on temperature and electronic textiles that integrate communication technology. These innovations have various applications ranging from novelty clothing to medical uses and safety equipment.

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Smart Textile
(A future of cloth)
Anil Kumar , Lecturer (Textile Design)
Pandit Lakhmichand State University of Performing & Visual
Arts , Rohtak
E-mail-anilvns143@gmail.com
Mobile no. +919729138649

2. Smart Textile
 Smart textiles or materials can be defined as the
materials & structures which have sense or can
sense the environmental condition or stimuli
whereas intelligent textile can be defined
as textile structures which not only can sense but
can also react & respond to environmental
condition or stimuli.
 Smart textiles can sense, react & adapt to the
conditions around them.
 Some smart materials meet a real need & have
been developed for specific functions. Others are
more of a novelty design feature.
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For example, they can
react to:
• Hot temperature
• cold temperature
• Light
• Pressure
• Moisture
• Time

3. Smart Textile
 Smart materials respond to external stimuli (the conditions around them).
They are able to sense certain conditions, react to them & adapt when
those conditions change.
 Thermochromic Textiles - React to temperature & may change colour in hot
or cold temperatures.
 Photochromic Textiles - React to UV light
 Solvation Chromism-Is the name given to textiles which respond to moisture.
They have mainly been developed for disposable non-woven textiles,
where a fabric changes colour when wet. This is being developed for
medical dressings & nappies which can change colour to indicate when they
need to be changed.
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4. Smart Textile
 Pressure-Uses for textiles which react to pressure include horse-riding
helmets, upholstery & bedding.
 Time-Fabrics can be developed that break down over a given amount of
time. This process is used in medicines such as multi-coloured cold capsules.
The different colours indicate the speed the coating breaks down in the gut
& allows a steady dose of the medicine into the bloodstream over a period
of time between doses. Future uses include fibres holding bones or organs
together as a temporary repair while the body heals itself after an
accident or operation,
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5. Different uses
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Uses
Novelty clothing
Protective clothing
Safety equipment
Medical textiles
Military uses
Anti-allergen products
Baby products

6. Smart Materials
 Smart materials have one or
more properties/features that
can respond to external
stimuli, such as stress, light,
temperature, moisture, pH,
electric or magnetic fields and
return to there original state
when the stimuli is removed.
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Thermochromic Materials
Shape memory alloys
Photochromic Materials Polymorph

7. Thermochromic Textiles
 Thermochromic textiles react to changes in
temperature usually by changing colour. There are
lots of novelty uses including fabric printing inks &
dyes which can be applied to textiles & change
colour as the body warms, or the product is touched.
 More functional applications include baby clothing
that changes colour if the baby becomes hotter than
the advised optimum temperature. This may help to
alleviate sudden infant death syndrome (cot death).
The same procedure can be used in baby bath toys
& feeding spoons which check that bath water or
food is of a safe temperature.
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There are serious
medical uses as
well as novelty
ones, e.g. liquid
crystal fabric strip
thermometers, &
baby sleep-suits to
monitor
temperature.

8.  Hand round samples of thermochromic dyes &
demonstrate the on the hot water bottle candles or
Rudolph’s nose on the Christmas stocking.
 Liquid crystal fabric changes colour all the way
through the spectrum with warmth. It is used in fabric
strip thermometers.
 Very recently, an Italian manufacturer has invented
fibres that react to heat which become tighter when
hot. This allows more air to pass through the gaps
between the fibres in woven or knitted fabric. When
they cool, the fibres expand, reducing the gaps & the
air flow. This helps the wearer acclimatise to the
weather conditions.
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Thermochromic Textiles

9. Photo Chromic Dyes
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Photochromic products react to UV
light by changing colour.
Example :-
•Photochromatic lenses in their
glasses
•Children’s Summer clothes
•Beachwear
•Novelty product ( Beads &Trims
in textiles )
•Military uniform

10. Photo Chromic Dyes
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Photochromatic
dyes respond to
changes in UV light
•Reflective finishes include reflective yarns, inks
and coatings
•Thermo chromatic dyes respond to changes in
temperature

11. Phosphorescent Pigments
 Phosphorescent dyes were originally developed to use on clock hands &
numbers. Nowadays they are often used in prints on novelty clothing such as
children’s nightwear, clothes for clubbing or Halloween costumes.
 Glow it the dark threads are available to embroider or stitch textiles with.
 Pass round the sample of the stitching in the Christmas stocking / star on the
tree of the hot-water bottle cover
 Some baby’s dummies have this treatment, which is useful for finding them in
the dark when a baby starts crying in the night but isn’t fully awake.
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These dyes are used in glow-
in-the dark products.
Phosphorescent Pigments

13. Micro-encapsulation
 Micro encapsulation has been developed in textiles, to allow fibres & fabrics
to be impregnated with microscopic bubbles of perfumes, anti-bacterial
properties, anti-allergens, mosquito repellents & carbon digesters to absorb
unpleasant fumes.
 Uses for this include anti allergic covers for pillows, bed-linen for children
impregnated with calming lavender to help them sleep, tights which have
active ingredients that claim to combat cellulite, & holiday clothing
impregnated with mosquito repellent.
 It is this technology that is used in perfume samples in magazines & scratch &
sniff dyes & printing inks in books & children’s clothing.
 Hand round the scratch & sniff fragranced embroidery silks & swatches /
lavender pot on the hot-water bottle.
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14. Micro-encapsulation
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Chemicals / Fragrances are
captured in microscopic
polymer bubbles which are
added to natural or
microfibres.
When the fabric is rubbed
or comes into contact with
the skin, the bubbles slowly
burst to release their
content

15. Electronic Textiles
 Electronic textiles are becoming more common & are the fastest
growing part of the textiles industry. They meet 2 consumer needs:
❖ The desire for mobile communication and entertainment devices.
❖ They work by the fabric being electrically conductive (while still being soft &
comfortable).
❖ This can be achieved by adding metal fibres to the fabric, using conductive
sewing threads, conductive printing inks or metallic coatings on the fabric
surface in order to create a circuit.
❖ Soft switches have been developed by Philips & these products often make
use of solar energy as a power source.
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16. Electronic Textiles
 Products include the i-pod blazer introduced by Marks & Spencer but
hastily withdrawn after complaints from parents & teachers! Ski wear can
have soft switches & built in i-pods & phones, so you can change the volume
of your music or answer a call by pressing a button on your sleeve rather
than removing your gloves & retrieving your phone from your pocket.
 Satellite navigation & tagging can be built into clothing allowing
mountaineers, pot-holers & skiers to be easily found in case of an accident.
 New developments also include the ‘Life Shirt’ which monitors blood
pressure, & a tracksuit that can monitor your performance.
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17. Electronic Textiles
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© 2019 , Anil Kumar (Faculty),SUPVA, Rohtak
An interactive fabric
incorporates electronics
that are activated by a
power source. They are
still Smart fabrics, they
just require a power
source.

18. Pressure response Fabric
 Memory Foam
You will all be familiar with mattresses & pillows containing Memory Foam.
It is sensitive to pressure & moulds to the shape of your body. For people
suffering with back problems, it helps to align the spine (keep it in a
straight line) which is much better that it curving on older saggy
mattresses. Once the pressure is removed, it returns to its original shape
without leaving the dip you associate with normal mattresses.
It was originally developed by NASA to help astronauts deal with G-
Force when blasting-off into space
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19. Pressure response Fabric
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