New vanadate fibers with nano- to submicron diameter were prepared by electrospinning using vanadium sol and poly(vinylacetate) (PVAC) solutions followed by thermal treatment. The PVAC has been applied as structure directing template for the synthesis of vanadium oxide fibers. The fibers were characterized by SEM, AFM, XRD and IR spectra. (C) 2003 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.