Thus material provides comfort (6)
I believe the answer is:
solace
'comfort' is the definition.
(I know that comfort can be written as solace)
'thus material' is the wordplay.
'thus' becomes 'so' (synonyms).
'material' becomes 'lace' (lace is a kind of material).
'so'+'lace'='SOLACE'
'provides' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for solace that I've seen before include "Comfort and reassurance" , "Kind of comfort - a close thing" , "Something that comforts distress" , "amusement" , "Comport" .)