Dear colleagues,

The textile industry is undergoing multiple revolutions that are targeting its sustainability, smartness, and multifunctionality. Smart and functional textiles combine traditional textiles with innovative technologies to create materials capable of performing various functions that are triggered according to changes in the environment or users. Thus, these textiles are able to sense user or environmental inputs and exert a response or function accordingly. The response may be medically relevant, such as the release of an antibiotic when a wound dressing perceives signs of wound infection or an outfit color change according to the temperature or user’s mood. Therefore, these applications are an exciting prospect for industries ranging from healthcare to fashion. Smart textiles’ sensing is still heavily dependent on conductive and powered materials for sensing and triggering. This limits long-lasting wearability, mainly due to poor washing fastness. Moreover, the combined use of greener approaches and components is highly relevant to improving sustainability.

Therefore, the main envisaged objective of this Special Issue is to gather original research and review articles focused on smart and functional textiles that display innovative enhancements of the following:

• Input sensing;
• Response triggers;
• Power source;
• Washing fastness.

Dr. Andrea Zille
Dr. Helena Felgueiras
Dr. Jorge Padrão
Dr. Nuno Dourado,
Guest Editors

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• smart
• functional
• textile
• medical
• antibiotic