Iron tungstate ceramic nanofibres fabricated using the electrospinning method

Abstract

Given the importance of tungstate in industry and aiming to introduce new tungstate nanostructure with a modern method, iron tungsten nanofibres were prepared for the first time by sol–gel followed by electrospinning and calcination. First, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a matrix polymer was mixed separately with tungstic acid (H2WO4) and iron(III) nitrate (Fe(NO3)3). The controlled mixing of the two solutions followed by electrospinning led to the fabrication of PVA/tungstic acid/iron(III) nitrate composite nanofibres. Finally, ceramic nanofibres of iron tungstate were obtained from the calcination of polymeric nanofibres under thermal control conditions. The final product was analysed by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometer, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis and Barrett–Joyner–Halenda pore size and volume analysis.