Preparation of fine-grained silica-doped zirconia fibers by electrospinning

Zirconia fiber, with its resistance to ultra-high temperature, is irreplaceable in many applications. Herein, a technique combining the sol-gel method and electrospinning was used to fabricate uniform 1D zirconia nanofibers from zirconium polyacetate. A suitable heat treatment process was established, and the effects of spinning parameters and additives on the fiber morphology were investigated using XRD, SEM, TGA , and FTIR. The results showed that addition of silica effectively inhibited grain growth and reduced the grain size to 30–60   nm. By optimizing the electrospinning parameters and the sintering process , fine-grained tetragonal zirconia fibers of 400–700   nm diameter could be produced.