Silica nanofibers with controlled mesoporous structure via electrospinning: From random to orientated

► A range of silica nanofibers with adjustable diameters were successfully synthesized via the sol-gel method and electrospinning. ► The silica nanofibers with orientated mesoporous structure have been achieved via the reduction of F127/TEOS mass ratio from 0.28 to 0.14. ► During the “disordered to ordered” process, the dominant pore-forming mechanism was found to be phase separation under rapid solvent evaporation.