Textile

1. Nanotechnology Contributions at a Glance
In line with the ever-increasing growth in the application of novel technologies in various industries, research teams, governmental organizations, and manufacturers active in the field of textile look for new approaches to use nanotechnology in order to increase the quality of their products. Nanotechnology is mostly used in the textile industry in order to create new materials, improve the properties of the existing materials, and increase the quality of products. However, nanotechnology has not been yet able to decrease the final price of the textile industry products. The target market of nanotechnology products in textile includes a wide range of consumers who need normal or specific products.

NPD contains data about 817 textile-related nanoproducts of 142 various types. These products are introduced into global markets by 500 companies, the headquarters of which are located in 42 different countries. The products are classified into clothing; sports textile; finishing agents; fibers, yarns, and fabrics; home textiles; shoes and bag; and technical textiles sub-industrial sectors.

These products, in general, contain nanomaterials that are directly used on the surface of fibers and fabrics. Among the most common nanomaterials used in the textile industry, mention can be made of nanofibers, nanostructured composited fibers, carbon nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), clay nanoparticles, and metal oxide nanoparticles such as titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, and aluminum oxide. The nanomaterials possess a large share of nanotechnology products market, and they are usually sold as final products in forms of suspensions and colloid suspensions. The presence of nanomaterials in the structure of the textile industry products results in improving properties such as hydrophobicity, self-cleaning, anti-spot, anti-stain, antistatic, and anti-shrinkage. Nanomaterials also increase the life of products. Various production methods are employed in order to use nanotechnology in the textile industry, among which mention can be made of sol-gel, electrospinning, electrostatic self-assembly, directed assembly, convective assembly, and atomic layer deposition.

2. Best-Performing Companies in Nanotechnology Exploitation
Nowadays, many of well-known companies active in the textile industrial sector have been embracing nanotechnology, among which mention can be made of Adidas Group, NIKE Inc, Yachticon, Alberto, Nano Armor, Givenchy, Shanghai Huzheng Nanotechngy, NanoTrade Ltd, Sea To Summit, Glenmuir, NANOTEX, NanoSPACE, ASICS Corporation, Tucano Urbano, X-Bionic, Greenyarn LLC, Zhejiang Donghua Fibre, Patagonia, Suzhou Saifei Group Co, O'NEILL, Gore Bike Wear, Jinda Nano Tech, Sekisui Nano Coat Technology, Nanos Technologies Co, Pro-Idee Gmb, TEXAMED GmbH, NanoProm, Gore Running Wear, and NADICO Technologie GmbH.

‎‎3. Top Countries in Nanotechnology Promotion
Reviewing the headquarters of the ‏monitored companies demonstrates that USA, China, Germany, Iran, the UK, Australia, Czech Republic, Taiwan, Italy, and Japan are the most active countries in promoting nanotechnology in the textile industrial sector.

4. Search String
The keywords used to build up the textile industrial sector database are as follows:
Nano + fibers (fibres), yarn, fabric, filament, shoes, footwear, insole, headwear, towel, pullover, overall, vest, trousers, pants, shirts, underwear, socks, jacket, short, apparel, outdoor wear, sportswear, bedding, blanket, bed sheets, bed quilt, sleeping bag, curtains, face mask, carpet, and finishing.