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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.

In this paper, the synthesis of continuous mullite (3Al2O3·2SiO2) nanofibres by combination of the sol–gel and electrospinning technique is reported. To find out the optimum viscosity of the electrospinning solution for obtaining the high quality mullite nanofibers, solutions containing different amounts of polyvinyl butyral (PVB, 0–8 wt%) and the precursor sol were prepared for the electrospinning process. The precursor sol was made by using proper amounts of aluminium isopropoxide (AIP), hydrated aluminium nitrate (AN) and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS). Crystal phase, microstructure and thermal decomposition behaviour of the electrospun mullite nanofibres were investigated by conventional methods of analysis. The optimal amount of PVB in the electrospinning polymeric solutions was found to be between 4 and 6 wt% and the mullite nanofibres obtained as such were pure, smooth and uniform with diameter sizes of 85–130 nm after calcination at 1200 °C.