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The commercial availability of inorganic/organic precursors for sol-gel formulations is very high and increases day by day. In textile applications, the precursor-synthesized sol-gels along with functional chemicals can be deposited onto textile fabrics in one step by rolling, padding, dip-coating, spraying or spin coating. By using this technology, it is possible to provide fabrics with functional/multi-functional characteristics including flame retardant, anti-mosquito, water- repellent, oil-repellent, anti-bacterial, anti-wrinkle, ultraviolet (UV) protection and self-cleaning properties. These surface properties are discussed, describing the history, basic chemistry, factors affecting the sol-gel synthesis, progress in sol-gel technology along with various parameters controlling sol-gel technology. Additionally, this review deals with the recent progress of sol-gel technology in textiles in addressing fabric finishing, water repellent textiles, oil/water separation, flame retardant, UV protection and self-cleaning, self-sterilizing, wrinkle resistance, heat storage, photochromic and thermochromic color changes and the improvement of the durability and wear resistance properties.

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Health concerns as a result of harmful UV-rays drive the development of UV-sensors of different kinds. In this research, a UV-responsive smart textile is produced by inkjet printing and UV-LED curing of a specifically designed photochromic ink on PET fabric. This paper focuses on tuning and characterizing the colour performance of a photochromic dye embedded in a UV-curable ink resin. The influence of industrial fabrication parameters on the crosslinking density of the UV-resin and hence on the colour kinetics is investigated. A lower crosslinking density of the UV-resin increases the kinetic switching speed of the photochromic dye molecules upon isomerization. By introducing an extended kinetic model, which defines rate constants k colouration , k decay and k decolouration , the colour performance of photochromic textiles can be predicted. Fabrication parameters present a flexible and fast alternative to polymer conjugation to control kinetics of photochromic dyes in a resin. In particular, industrial fabrication parameters during printing and curing of the photochromic ink are used to set the colour yield, colouration/decolouration rates and the durability, which are important characteristics towards the development of a UV-sensor for smart textile applications.