Preparation of nanofibers consisting of MnO/Mn3O4 by using the electrospinning technique: the nanofibers have two band-gap energies

In the present study, nanofibers consisting of manganese monoxide (MnO), which is hard to prepare because of the chemical activity of the manganese metal, and the popular Mn3O4 have been synthesized via the electrospinning technique. The nanofibers were obtained by electrospinning of an aqueous sol-gel consisting of manganese acetate tetra-hydrate and poly(vinyl alcohol). The obtained nanofiber mats were dried in vacuum at 80A degrees C for 24 h and then calcined in argon atmosphere at 900A degrees C for 5 h. According to X-ray diffraction results, the obtained nanofibers contain 65% MnO. Transmission electron microscope analysis reveals good crystallinity of the produced nanofibers. UV-visible spectroscopic analysis has indicated that the produced nanofibers have two band-gap energies, 2 and 3.7 eV, which enhances utilizing of the nanofibers in different applications.