Thin PVA/zirconium oxychloride composite fibres were prepared by using sol-gel processing and electrospinning technique. After calcinations of the above precursor fibres, ZrO2 nanofibres with a diameter of 50-200 nm could be successfully obtained. The fibres were characterized by SEM, FT-IR, XRD, respectively. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.