Fibrous zinc oxide prepared by combined electrospinning and solvothermal techniques

The synthesis of novel zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructure consisting of ZnO nanoparticles formed into the network of fibers was investigated. This structure was fabricated from the solvothermal reaction of the poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/zinc acetate composite fibers, which were firstly prepared by electrospinning technique. It was found that zinc acetate within the PVA matrix was converted into ZnO nanoparticles in hexagonal wurtzite structure, while PVA was still retained within the structure. Therefore, the product was no longer easy to crumble into powder, easy to handle, yet it still possessed nanostructure feature. The growth mechanism of ZnO nanoclusters within the structure was also proposed by investigating the effects of various parameters, i.e. content of zinc acetate within the fibers, reaction temperature and reaction time.