Ceramics-Silikáty 56 (2) 112-116 (2012)

Electrospinning of 2D and 3D silica nanofibres from a colloidal solution

H. V. Shah, J. R. Sandy, A. J. Ireland, B. Su

Silica nanofibres were synthesised by electrospinning a commercially available silica solution with an aqueous 5% poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) solution to produce composite PEO/ silica nanofibres. Using a ratio of 80% PEO solution to 20% silica solution, random nanofibrous silica membrane were produced after being subject to pyrolysis at 800°C for 2 hours. The mean diameter of the silica nanofibres was 256 nm. With a solution of 50% PEO to 50% silica solution, three-dimensional wool-like network of nanofibres was achieved.

Keywords: Silica, Ceramics, Nanofibres, Electrospinning