SiO<sub>2</sub> Fibers by\nCentrifugal Spinning with\nExcellent Textural Properties and Water Adsorption Performance

Facile\nand innovative route for large-scale synthesis of SiO<sub>2</sub> fibers\nwith excellent textural properties and H<sub>2</sub>O adsorption performance\nis presented. At first, a three-dimensional\nnetwork of SiO<sub>2</sub> precursor fibers was produced from tailored\nspun solutions (without any toxic elements and surfactants) by centrifugal\nspinning, which is a very modern fiber-synthesis technique, with numerous\nadvantages over electrospinning. Upon thermal annealing of the precursor\nfibers, mesoporous amorphous SiO<sub>2</sub> fibers with an ultrahigh\nsurface area of up to 824 m<sup>2</sup>/g and pore size distribution\nin the range of 2–10 nm were produced. Owing to the high number\nof OH groups available on the surface, the produced SiO<sub>2</sub> fibers showed significantly better performance in H<sub>2</sub>O\nadsorption compared to that of the reference silicagel.