Preparation of ceramic nanofibers of iron vanadate using electrospinning method

Because of special characteristics of vanadate compound, such as its sustainability, magneticity, high selectivity in reactions and catalytic character, this study aimed to preparation and analyzing novel ceramic iron vanadate (FeVO4) nanofibers. The ceramic nanofibers of iron vanadate were made by the combination of sol-gel and electrospinning methods. First, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), as a matrix polymer, was mixed separately with ammonium metavanadate (NH4VO3) and iron (III) nitrate (Fe(NO3)3). As a result, the spinnable polymeric gel was obtained from the controlled mixture of these two precursors of ceramic material. Electrospinning of PVA/iron (III) nitrate/ammonium vanadate solution was done using an Electroris setup that enabled preparation of polymeric template nanofiber. Finally, iron vanadate nanofiber was obtained by calcination of polymer nanofiber at controlled temperature. The products were characterized with scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis.