Recent Advancement of Innovative Approaches to Sustainable Smart Textiles: A Systematic Review

Smart textiles represent a transformative convergence of materials science, electronics, and sustainability principles, enabling the creation of fabrics that sense, respond, and adapt to environmental stimuli. This systematic review examines recent advancements in sustainable smart textile technologies, synthesizing findings from peer-reviewed literature published between 2018 and 2024. Following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework, 78 studies were identified and reviewed. Key innovations include biodegradable electronic fibers, solar-energy-harvesting textiles, thermoelectric wearable systems, self-healing polymer matrices, and bio-based conductive inks. The review highlights a paradigm shift toward circular economy models in textile manufacturing, driven by regulatory pressure and consumer demand for eco-conscious products. Findings reveal that sustainable smart textiles can achieve performance parity with conventional counterparts while reducing environmental impact by up to 60%. The article concludes with targeted recommendations for researchers, industry practitioners, and policymakers seeking to accelerate the responsible commercialization of sustainable smart textile technologies.