Preparation of thorium dioxide nanofibers by electrospinning

For the first time, we report the preparation of thorium dioxide with nanofibrous morphology by the electrospinning method. Two approaches were employed with different electrospun solution compositions and inorganic precursors. Thorium nitrate with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a supporting polymer was successfully electrospun from an aqueous solution resulting in green composite fibers that were calcined at 773 K to pure ThO2 nanofibers of diameter 76 ± 25 nm. Another precursor solution was based on organic solvents and thorium acetylacetonate complex with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Green fibers were calcined at 673 K to porous nanofibers of ThO2 with an average diameter of 34 ± 18 nm and surface area of 85 m2 g-1 . The prepared materials were characterized by TGA-DSC, SEM, TEM, PXRD, and BET methods.