Production of submicrometric fibers of mullite by solution blow spinning (SBS)

Submicrometric mullite fibers were produced, for the first time, by the solution blow spinning technique, SBS. This new methodology was successful in producing crack free mullite fibers, with mean diameter of approximately 800 nm. Fibrous mats with a high surface area (24 m(2)/g) after firing at 1000 degrees C were obtained. Moreover, SBS proved to be a very efficient technique to produce mullite fibers at high output rate as compared to the current techniques used in the production of oxide ceramic submicrometric fibers. This novel method might find application to produce a wide range of ceramic submicrofibrous materials. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.