Father brought back nothing material (6)
I believe the answer is:
poplin
'material' is the definition.
(poplin is a kind of material)
'father brought back nothing' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'pop' (pop is a kind of father).
'brought back' is a reversal indicator.
'nothing' becomes 'nil' (eg nil is zero in football).
'nil' back-to-front is 'lin'.
'pop'+'lin'='POPLIN'
(Other definitions for poplin that I've seen before include "Material" , "Light cotton fabric" , "Strong plain-woven fabric" , "Lightweight corded cotton" , "stuff!" .)