Formation of Refractory Carbide and Nitride Nanofibers by Thermal Decomposition of Poly(vinyl alcohol)-Titanium Lactate Hybrid Nanofibers

Poly(vinyl alcohol)-titanium lactate hybrid nanofibers (precursors) were formed by electrospinning employing water as a solvent for the spinning solution. The precursors were converted into titanium carbide (TiC) or nitride (TiN) nanofibers by heating them in Ar or N2 atmospheres. TiC nanofibers could be obtained below theoretical temperature calculated from thermodynamics data, indicating that metal and carbon sources were intimately mixed together. TiN nanofibers also could be obtained near theoretical temperature under N2 gas flow.