Facile preparation of titanium dioxide micro/nanofibers and tubular structures by air jet spinning

Abstract

Air jet spinning (AJS) method has been successfully used for manufacturing of micro/nanofibers. AJS method offers a fiber production rate that is several times higher than those produced by electrospinning. This paper discusses the preparation of TiO2 in two different morphological structures using a one-step AJS based on sol-gel blends of alkoxide precursor (titanium isopropoxide), Ti(iso) and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) solutions. Our results confirmed that TiO2 fibers and tubular structures can be prepared by controlling the proportions of Ti(iso) precursor. Spinning Ti(iso)/PVAc solutions with low precursor concentrations (25%) yielded fibers with smooth surfaces. Increasing the precursor concentration more than 25% resulted in production of very rough fibers of highly tubular structure. Overall, the AJS technique proved to be a valuable method for future research related to polymer and ceramic fiber processing and fabrication.