Thin polyvinyl alcohol/cerium nitrate composite fibers were prepared by using sol-gel processing and electrospinning technique. After calcinations of the above precursor fibers, CeO2 nanofibers with a diameter of 50-150 nm were successfully obtained. The fibers were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.