Mesoporous silica fibers prepared by electroblowing of a poly(methyl methacrylate)/tetraethoxysilane mixture in N,N-dimethylformamide

Electroblowing and sol–gel reaction were combined to prepare mesoporous silica fibers. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), a simple commercial polymer with weak hydrogen bonding to silica, was demonstrated to be valuable in improving the electrospinnability and as a porogenic agent. Compared with that in electrospinning, the jet stream in electroblowing was more stable and the resultant fibers were more uniform. The electroblown fibers were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherms. The phase separation behavior and mechanism for the formation of the amorphous mesoporous structure were discussed. Although there was no covalent bonding between PMMA and silica, macrophase separation was completely prevented in the electroblown fibers and the pore size in the calcined silica fibers ranged from 10 to 20 nm. However, the previously reported electrospun silica fibers, in which surfactants or polymers with strong hydrogen or covalent bonding to silanol groups were used as structure directing agents, had average pore sizes below 10 nm. The present study offers a facile method for the preparation of highly mesoporous silica fibers with large mesopores.