Abstract:

Interest in intelligent materials has been growing rapidly since the late 1980s, and recently they have become an individual group of materials. A widely-accepted definition states that a material can be called intelligent when it simultaneously plays a role of a sensor, a processor and a transferring signal device. Intelligent polymers appeared much later than the metallic and ceramic materials. In this paper, a brief overview of selected intelligent polymeric materials and systems is given in order to attract the attention of the textile community and to suggest fields for their potential applications in intelligent textiles. The focus is put on piezoelectric, shape memory and electroactive polymers, as well as stimuli-responsive polymers. Theoretical and experimental evidence exists that such materials can also find applications as intelligent textiles, e.g. those which have the ability to change colour, generate and store heat, monitor health and many other functions.