Electrospinning of alumina nanofibers using different precursors

Electrospinning technique is becoming increasingly13; popular for the preparation of nanofibers [1x2013;5]. The13; process involves the application of a strong electrostatic13; field to a capillary connected with a reservoir13; containing a polymer solution or melt. Under the13; influence of the electrostatic field, a pendant droplet of13; the polymer solution at the capillary tip is deformed13; into a conical shape (Taylor cone). If the voltage surpasses13; a threshold value, electrostatic forces overcome13; the surface tension, and a fine charged jet is ejected.13; The jet moves towards a ground plate, which acts as a13; counter electrode. The solvent begins to evaporate13; immediately after the jet is formed. The result is the13; deposition of nanofibers on a substrate located above13; the counter electrode. Initially, this technique was used13; for the preparation of polymer nanofibers [6x2013;9]. In13; recent years; this technique has been used for the13; preparation of metal oxide/ceramic nanofibers such as13; silica, zirconia, titania, nickel oxide, barium titanate,13; lead zirconate titanate and other oxide materials [10x2013;13; 30]. The nanofibers formed could be aligned (parallel13; and cross patterns) when an insulated cylinder attached13; to the axel of a DC motor is used as the substrate [31].13; Xia et al. [32] prepared polymeric and ceramic nanofibers13; as axially aligned arrays by the use of a collector13; consisting of two pieces of electrically conductive13; substrate separated by a gap. Katta et al. used copper13; wires spaced evenly in the form of a circular drum as a13; collector of the electro spun nanofibers