Electronic Textiles (e-textiles) are fabrics that feature electronics and interconnections woven into them, presenting physical flexibility and typical size that cannot be achieved with other existing electronic manufacturing techniques. Components and interconnections are intrinsic to the fabric and thus are less visible and not susceptible of becoming tangled or snagged by surrounding objects. E-textiles can also more easily adapt to fast changes in the computational and sensing requirements of any specific application, this one representing a useful feature for power management and context awareness. The vision behind wearable computing foresees future electronic systems to be an integral part of our everyday outfits. Such electronic devices have to meet special requirements concerning wearability. Wearable systems will be characterized by their ability to automatically recognize the activity and the behavioral status of their own user as well as of the situation around her/him, and to use this information to adjust the systems' configuration and functionality. This review focuses on recent advances in the field of Smart Textiles and pays particular attention to the materials and their manufacturing process. Each technique shows advantages and disadvantages and our aim is to highlight a possible trade-off between flexibility, ergonomics, low power consumption, integration and eventually autonomy.

The physical mechanism involved in resistive switching phenomena occurring in devices based on ZnO nanowire (NW) arrays may vary considerably, also depending on the structure of the switching layer. In particular, it is shown here that the formation of a ZnO base layer between the metallic catalyst substrate and the NW, which is typical of CVD-grown ZnO NW arrays, should not be neglected when explaining the switching physical mechanism. The structural and electrical properties of this layer are investigated after the mechanical removal of NWs. Electrical measurements were performed in the presence of NWs and, after their removal, showed that the base alone exhibits resistive switching properties. The proposed switching mechanism is based on the creation/rupture of an oxygen vacancies conductive path along grain boundaries of the polycrystalline base. The creation of the filament is facilitated by the high concentration of vacancies at the grain boundaries that are oriented perpendicularly to the electrodes, as a direct consequence of the ZnO growth along the c-axis of the wurtzite lattice.

Organic, inorganic or hybrid devices in the liquid state, kept in a fixed volume by surface tension or by a confining membrane that protects them from a harsh environment, could be used as biologically inspired autonomous robotic systems with unique capabilities. They could change shape according to a specific exogenous command or by means of a fully integrated adaptive system, and provide an innovative solution for many future applications, such as space exploration in extreme or otherwise challenging environments, post‐disaster search and rescue in ground applications, compliant wearable devices, and even in the medical field for in vivo applications. This perspective provides an initial assessment of existing capabilities that could be leveraged to pursue the topic of “Smart Fluid Systems” or “Liquid Engineered Systems”.