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Electrospun boron-containing mullite micro/nanofibers derived from monophasic sol: effects of sol concentration on morphology and microstructure

  • Original Paper: Nano-structured materials (particles, fibers, colloids, composites, etc.)
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Abstract

Continuous mullite fibers with ultrafine diameters and good thermal stability are an ideal candidate to be used to prepare ceramic-based aerogels, sponges, or composites. In the present work, boron-containing mullite micro/nanofibers with the molar ratio of Al/Si/B = 3/1/1 were fabricated using monophasic precursor sols with different concentrations (15–37.5%) by electrospinning. Basic aluminum acetate (BAA) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) were used as the raw materials. It was found that with increasing sol concentration, the reaction rates of hydrolysis and polymerization were reduced, and the chemical homogeneity of the precursor sols decreased. Besides, the viscosities of the spinning solutions increased, which was assigned to be the determining factor that led to the increasingly thicker precursor fibers. Meanwhile, the crystallization temperatures decreased and the grain sizes increased for the sintered fibers. The main reason for this was that amorphous SiO2, which could delay the reaction between Al2O3 and B2O3 and hinder the movement of grain boundaries, was distributed more evenly.

Graphical abstract

Effects of sol concentration on morphology, crystallization temperatures and phase composition of electrospun boron-containing mullite micro/nanofibers derived from monophasic sol.

Highlights

  • Electrospun boron-containing mullite micro/nanofibers were prepared using monophasic precursor sols.

  • The fiber derived from precursor sols with higher concentration possessed larger diameters.

  • High sol concentration led to low crystallization temperatures and large grains of the fibers.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Science and Technology Program for Youth Growth of Science and Technology Agency of JiLin Province (No. 20210508055RQ), the Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province (No. 20210101135JC), the Fund of Education department of JiLin Province (No. JJKH20210733KJ, JJKH20210732KJ) and the JiLin Scientific and Technological Development Program (YDZJ202201ZYTS669).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Advanced Structural Materials, Ministry of Education, Changchun University of Technology, Changchun, 130012, China

    Xiaolei Song, Jianxiang Xu, Ying Song, Rui Chen & Yang Gao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Yunzhu Ma & Wensheng Liu

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  1. Xiaolei Song
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  2. Jianxiang Xu
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  3. Ying Song
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Correspondence to Xiaolei Song, Ying Song or Yang Gao.

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Song, X., Xu, J., Song, Y. et al. Electrospun boron-containing mullite micro/nanofibers derived from monophasic sol: effects of sol concentration on morphology and microstructure. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 105, 848–856 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-022-06003-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-022-06003-8

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