Alumina fibers were fabricated by the sol-gel method combined with an electrospinning process using aluminum chloride hexahydrate (AlCl3 center dot 6H(2)O) and aluminum powder as raw materials in water solvent. Calcium oxide-silica (CaO-SiO2) was applied as two-component additive to retard the phase transformation of alumina and control the size of the grains during sintering. With the addition of the CaO-SiO2 in the system, the size of the particles that composed the fibers calcined at 1300 degrees C significantly decreased compared to that without additive, which might be due to the formation of theta-alumina in the samples. In addition, the fiber had low thermal conductivity and good flexibility, which favored its application in insulation. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.