Fabrication of ZrO2 ceramic fiber mats by solution blowing process

Abstract ZrO 2 is an important ceramic material, which could be applied into many fields including structural materials, filtration, catalyst support, solar cells and batteries. This paper reported that ZrO 2 fiber mats can be fabricated by solution blowing process and a subsequent calcination process. During the solution blowing process, as-spun PVP/ZrOCl 3 composite fibers were formed after solvent evaporation and stretching of gas flow. These fibers could be subsequently converted into ZrO 2 fibers via calcination process in air at 800 °C. Diameter of these ZrO 2 ceramic fibers could be controlled in the range from 8 to 20 μm by changing parameters, such as the PVP concentration, ZrOCl 3 concentration, gas pressure, the needle size, and the injection rate of the precursor solution.