  Suspended in the gas phase, 1D inorganic nanoparticles (nanotubes and
nanowires) grow to hundreds of microns in a second and can be thus directly
assembled into freestanding network materials. The corresponding process
continuously transforms gas precursors into aerosols into aerogels into
macroscopic nanotextiles. By enabling the assembly of very high aspect ratio
nanoparticles, this processing route has translated into high-performance
structural materials, transparent conductors and battery anodes, amongst other
embodiments. This paper reviews progress in the application of such
manufacturing process to nanotubes and nanowires. It analyses 1D nanoparticle
growth through floating catalyst chemical vapour deposition (FCCVD), in terms
of reaction selectivity, scalability and its inherently ultra-fast growth rates
(107-108 atoms per second) up to 1000 times faster than for substrate CVD. We
summarise emerging descriptions of the formation of aerogels through
percolation theory and multi-scale models for the collision and aggregation of
1D nanoparticles. The paper shows that macroscopic ensembles of 1D
nanoparticles resemble textiles in their porous network structure, high
flexibility and damage-tolerance. Their bulk properties depend strongly on
inter-particle properties and are dominated by alignment and volume fraction.
Selected examples of nanotextiles that surpass granular and monolithic
materials include structural fibres with polymer-like toughness, transparent
conductors, and slurry-free composite electrodes for energy storage.
