Effect of viscosity of polyvinyl alcohol solution on morphology of the electrospun mullite nanofibres

Mullite nanofibres with diameters of 85–110 nm were obtained by electrospinning of solutions containing different amounts of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA, as the template) ranging from 0 wt% to 10 wt%, which were added to the sol, and sintered at different temperatures. The sol was prepared by the sol–gel method, using aluminium isopropoxide (AIP), hydrated aluminium nitrate (AN) and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as the precursors. The details of crystal development, microstructure and thermal decomposition behaviour of the electrospun nanofibres were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and simultaneous thermal analysis (STA). The optimal content of 6 wt% of PVA in the electrospinning polymeric solutions was found to be the suitable viscosity for the electrospinning and ultimately resulted in the formation of the most pure and uniform mullite nanofibres.