title: Alkoxide-based precursors for direct drawing of metal oxide micro- and nanofibres.
abstract: The invention of electrospinning has solved the problem of producing micro- and nanoscaled metal oxide fibres in bulk quantities. However, until now no methods have been available for preparing a single nanofibre of a metal oxide. In this work, the direct drawing method was successfully applied to produce metal oxide (SnO2, TiO2, ZrO2, HfO2and CeO2) fibres with a high aspect ratio (up to 10 000) and a diameter as small as 200 nm. The sol-gel processing includes consumption of precursors obtained from alkoxides by aqueous or non-aqueous polymerization. Shear thinning of the precursors enables pulling a material into a fibre. This rheological behaviour can be explained by sliding of particles owing to external forces. Transmission (propagation) of light along microscaled fibres and their excellent surface morphology suggest that metal oxide nanofibres can be directly drawn from sol precursors for use in integrated photonic systems.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, Tartu 51014, Estonia.
authors.forename: Tanel
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tätte
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, Tartu 51014, Estonia.
authors.forename: Medhat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hussainov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, Tartu 51014, Estonia.
authors.forename: Madis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paalo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, Tartu 51014, Estonia.
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Part
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, Tartu 51014, Estonia.
authors.forename: Rasmus
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Talviste
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, Tartu 51014, Estonia.
authors.forename: Valter
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kiisk
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, Tartu 51014, Estonia.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mändar
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, Tartu 51014, Estonia.
authors.forename: Kaija
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Põhako
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Chemical and Biological Physics, Akadeemia tee 23, Tallinn 12618, Estonia.
authors.forename: Tõnis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pehk
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, Tartu 51014, Estonia.
authors.forename: Kaido
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reivelt
authors.affiliation: ICIS-CNR, Corso Stati Uniti 4, Padova 35127, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Natali
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón C.S.I.C., University of Zaragoza Fac. De Ciencias, c/Pedro Cerbuna 12, Zaragoza 50009, Spain.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gurauskis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, Tartu 51014, Estonia.
authors.forename: Ants
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lõhmus
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, University of Tartu, Ravila 14a, Tartu 50411, Estonia.
authors.forename: Uno
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mäeorg
keywords: SAXS; SnO2; metal alkoxides; microfibres; oxide nanofibres; rheology; sol–gel