Fabrication of ZrO2 ceramic fiber mats by solution blowing process

ZrO2 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 ZrO2 fiber mats can be fabricated by solution blowing process and a subsequent calcination process. During the solution blowing process, as-spun PVP/ZrOCl3 composite fibers were formed after solvent evaporation and stretching of gas flow. These fibers could be subsequently converted into ZrO2 fibers via calcination process in air at 800 °C. Diameter of these ZrO2 ceramic fibers could be controlled in the range from 8 to 20 μm by changing parameters, such as the PVP concentration, ZrOCl3 concentration, gas pressure, the needle size, and the injection rate of the precursor solution.