Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 /ZrO 2 (GZC) composite fibers were prepared by electro-spinning method. The XRD , XPS and Raman results showed that there were three crystalline phases, tetragonal phase ZrO 2 , cubic phase ZrO 2 and defect fluorite phase Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 in GZC composite fibers. GZC fibers remained an intact fiber texture up to 1400 °C according to SEM photographs. The thermal conductivity of GZC fibers was between 0.173 W/(m·K) at 400 °C and 0.309 W/(m·K) at 800 °C, which was lower than that of 7YSZ under the same experimental conditions. The fiber sheet with density about 3.5 g/cm 3 has thermal shrinkage less than 3% at 1400 °C. Hence, GZC fibers could be used as refractories for heat protection.
Three kinds of Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 /ZrO 2 (GZC) composite fibers with different proportions of Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 were prepared by electrospinning method through changing the amount of Gd 3+ in precursor solutions. The thermal decomposition, crystallization process , high temperature stability and heat-conducting properties of GZC fibers were fully characterized. The results showed that there were three crystalline phases, tetragonal phase ZrO 2 , cubic phase ZrO 2 and defect fluorite phase Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 in all the GZC fibers. The content of Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 increased gradually with the increase of Gd 3+ in precursor solutions which led to the gradual slowing down of grain growth rate, the decrease of thermal conductivity and the increase of high temperature stability of the obtained composite fibers. The thermal conductivities of all the GZC fiber sheets were lower than that of 7YSZ fiber sheet. The sheets of all the GZC fibers could keep the high temperature stability up to 1300 °C.