**1. Introduction**

The idea of nanotechnology was initially presented by Richard Feynman in the year 1959, through his speech "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", which was delivered at an American Physical Society conference, at the California Institute of Technology (Feynman, 1959, [1]). The concepts introduced by Feynman were unobserved until 1974, when Norio Taniguchi presented the term "nanotechnology" (Taniguchi, 1974, [2]). The term "nano" means one-billionth or 10−<sup>9</sup> henceforth, one nanometer is referred to as one billionth of a meter. Currently, an extensive range of fabrication systems are present that are capable of controlling and producing nanostructures to the preferred composition, size, morphology, shape, and crystalline structure. The two typical fabrication methods utilized are "top-down" and "bottom-up". These days, nanotechnology contributes to the prospective opportunities in developing improved materials with advanced properties for utilization in di fferent application fields. The atoms inside nanoparticles are perfectly ordered and consequently, while the material dimensions change from macro-size to nano-size, extensive variations happen in the material properties (Yang et al., 2019, [3]).

At the present time, researchers can develop various nano-sized materials such as nanoclays, carbon nanotubes, nanofibers, and graphene with lighter, stronger, increased chemical reactivity, and more prolonged control on the light spectrum (Khan et al., 2019, [4]). An improved understanding of the properties of nanomaterials provides a way for developing progressive materials in the upcoming years with the probability for improving the life quality. Nanomaterials are gradually turning out to be commercialized, starting to progress as commodities, and used in numerous advanced technological

applications and products, including a wide variety of consumer products. The design as well as preparation of nanomaterials with a unique combination of textile material is anticipated to expand the demanding scope in the future (Verma et al., 2020, [5]).

At present, the engineered nanomaterials are being examined extensively by research institutes as well as industries for improving prevailing functions in products together with implementing new ones. Regardless of such developments in nanomaterial technology, data regarding the probable effects of nanomaterials on human health and the environment has been inadequate until now (Kumar et al., 2018, [6]) (Mishra et al., 2018, [7]), (Kumar et al., 2018, [8]). Nanosafety is an increasing concern as exposure to engineered nanomaterials has been related to several health effects inclusive of carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, pulmonary inflammation, and circulatory e ffects (Leong, 2017, [9]), (Johnston et al., 2020, [10]), (Mirshafiee et al., 2018, [11]), (Karim et al., 2020, [12]), (Dobrovolskaia et al., 2013, [13]). Due to the fact that the nanomaterials may not be recognizable subsequent to its discharge into the surroundings, these materials could cause various kinds of ecological problems as long as the remediation scheme is unsafe. The data acquisitions on emission as well as ecological concentrations of nanomaterials of the nanotextiles is extremely important. Subsequently, additional study is crucial for scientifically describing the structure-function relation of nanomaterials with respect to the fundamental chemistry (as an illustration, functionality and toxicity). Additionally, comprehensive risk assessments should be performed on nanomaterials that present an actual exposure danger throughout its fabrication or usage (Ahmad et al., 2020, [14]), (Kawai et al., 2019, [15]), (Au ffan et al., 2019, [16]), (Oomen et al., 2018, [17]), (Schulte et al., 2018, [18]). Henceforward, green nanoscience has been suggested for reducing the probable environmental threats and human health risks from the fabrication and usage of nanomaterials and to develop the substitution of prevalent items with progressive nanomaterials that are more eco-friendly (Iavicoli et al., 2014, [19]), (McKenzie et al., 2004, [20]), (Hutchison et al., 2008, [21]), (Bamoharram et al., 2011, [22]). In this review paper, we discuss the application of nanomaterials in the textile industries. These sorts of studies may be advantageous for the suitable advancement of applications and research interest towards the further development of nanomaterials. To the best of our knowledge, there are not many works about the state-of-the-art progress in nanotechnology for application in textile industries. This review paper highlights the sustainable use of nanomaterials in textiles, their release from textiles, and the di fferent approaches for examining nanomaterial toxicity. In addition, we have comprehensively studied the hazardous e ffects of textile field nanomaterials on human health and the environment.

### **2. Application of Nanomaterials in Textile Industry**

Presently, the textile industry is a significant user of nanotechnology and there are a remarkable number of nanotextiles present in the market, inclusive of several consumer goods, which includes nanomaterials (Karst, D et al., 2006, [23]), (Jatoi et al., 2021, [24]), (Darwesh et al., 2021, [25]), (Schoden et al., 2021, [26]), (Yilmaz, 2018, [27]), (Ehrmannet al., 2020, [28]), (Abdullaeva, 2017, [29], (Riaz et al., 2019, [30]). Nanotextiles are regarded as conventional textiles with the inclusion of nanomaterials. These advanced textiles o ffer di fferent functionalities like flame retardancy, self-cleaning, dirt repellency, water repellency, ultraviolet radiation protection, or antibacterial property (Almeida et al., 2017, [31]), (Brown et al., 2007, [32]), (Radetic et al., 2013, [33]), (Ibrahim et al., 2015, [34]), (Sundarrajan et al., 2010, [35]), (Afzali, A. et al., 2016, [36]), (Sharon et al., 2019, [37]), (El-Naggar et al., 2018, [38]), (Xue et al., 2020, [39]), (Gadkari et al., 2020, [40]), (Elsayed et al., 2020, [41]), (Mejia et al., 2017, [42]). Nanocoatings and nanofinishings are enhancing the possible utilizations of textile materials in di fferent fields (Banerjee et al., 2019, [43]), (Jadoun et al., 2020, [44]), (Gokarneshan et al., 2017, [45]), (Perera et al., 2013, [46]), (Ferraris et al., 2014, [47]). The usage of nanofibers and nanocomposite based coatings/finishings have demonstrated a huge possibility in emerging functional and high-performance textiles (Bashari et al., 2018, [48]), (Riaz et al., 2018, [49]), (Haque et al., 2019, [50]), (Lund et al., 2018, [51]), (Silva et al., 2019, [52]), (Shabbir et al., 2020, [53]), (Ul-Islam et al., 2018, [54]). The study by (Singh et al., 2020 [55]) reviewed the latest studies involving the modification and characterization of textile, highlighting plasma and nano-pretreatment. Figure 1 diagrammatically presents various nanotechnology-enhanced textiles. Due to its higher surface area to volume ratio and nanoscale dimensions, the nanomaterials have increased potential for providing different functionalities in the textiles. Various nanomaterials that are utilized for textile utilization are mostly: (1) Carbon-based nanomaterials such as graphene, carbon nanofibers, and carbon nanotubes; (2) inorganic nanoparticles such as metal oxide, metal, and nanoclay; (3) core-shell nanoparticles; (4) composite nanomaterials; (5) hybrid nanomaterials; and (6) polymeric nanomaterials. Table 1 provides information on the different nanomaterials most frequently utilized for functionalization in textiles.

**Figure 1.** A diagrammatic representation of various utilizations of nanotechnology-based textiles. Reproduced from reference (Yetisen et al., 2016, [56]).

### *2.1. Innovations in Nanotechnology-Based Textile Industry Applications*

The four main fields through which nanomaterials and nanotechnology find utilizations in the textile industry are analyzed below.
