Formation of beryllium oxide nanofibers by polyvinyl alcohol/beryllium sulfate/polyethyleneimine composite precursors

Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/beryllium sulfate (BeSO₄) precursor nanofibers are fabricated by electrospinning technique, mixing PVA aqueous solution with BeSO₄ salt. The productivity is increased by adding polyethyleneimine (PEI) with PVA/BeSO₄ spinning solution. The beryllium oxide (BeO) nanofibers are obtained by calcinating the PVA/BeSO₄/PEI precursor nanofiber heated at 1000 °C or above. The crystallographic structure of BeO nanofibers is examined by X-ray diffraction. The thermal behaviors of the pure PVA nanofibers, BeSO₄ salt, and PVA/BeSO₄/PEI precursor nanofibers are studied by thermogravimetry analysis. The BeO nanofiber diameters are reduced with the increase in calcination temperatures. The specific surface area of the PVA/BeSO₄/PEI precursor nanofibers is around 36.9 m² g⁻¹, and that of the BeO nanofibers calcined at 1200 °C is about 11.9 m² g⁻¹. The pore properties deteriorate due to sintering and blockage as the calcination temperature increases. This work introduces mesoporous BeO nanofibers for the very first time.

Article highlights

This work introduces mesoporous BeO nanofibers by electrospinning for the very first time.

Polyethylenimine was used to improve the productivity of PVA/BeSO₄/PEI precursor nanofibers.

The BeO nanofibers prepared under this optimum condition will be valuable for further development and are expected to have the potential for industrial applications such as thermal conductive heat dissipate sheets.