Studies of electrospinning process of zirconia nanofibers

Eletriospinning process was used to fabricate Zirconia nanofibers and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) was employed in this procedure. SEM, TGA, FT-IR and XRD were used to investigate the electrospinning process. Pure PVP was electrospun at the same conditions as comparisons. The results indicated that the fibers had an average diameter about 80 nm with smooth surface. FT-IR spectrum and TGA curve proved that PVP was removed from the fibers after a thermal treatment. It was found that the crystal structure of Zirconia changed at different calcination temperature. The use of PVP, bicomponent solvent of water and ethanol and inorganic salt had positive effects on the morphology of the fibers.