Excellent flexibility of high-temperature-treated SiO2-TiO2 hybrid fibres and their enhanced luminescence with Eu3+ doping

In this paper, SiO 2 -TiO 2 hybrid fibres are fabricated using the electrospinning technique and Eu 3+ is successfully doped into the fibres through a simple sol-gel approach. The obtained SiO 2 -TiO 2 hybrid fibres are subjected to heat treatments at 600   °C, 800   °C and 1200   °C. The silica fibres subjected to a high temperature of 1200   °C become brittle and easily broken. Furthermore, the X-ray diffraction patterns demonstrate that crystalline titania forms in the SiO 2 -TiO 2 samples treated at 1200   °C, and excellent flexibility is demonstrated in the corresponding SiO 2 -TiO 2 non-woven mat. Moreover, the stress-strain curve demonstrates that the SiO 2 -TiO 2 mat heat-treated at 1200   °C exhibits typical elastic-plastic behaviour. Finally, the emission intensity of Eu 3+ of the SiO 2 -TiO 2 fibres is higher than that of the analogous SiO 2 fibres. This method can be adapted to fabricate inorganic-based hybrid fibres and will pave the way for the implementation of SiO 2 -TiO 2 non-woven mats in related research fields.