Wurzite type zinc oxide (ZnO) mesoporous nanofibers for low-cost thin film solar cells were successfully synthesized by a simple electrospinning technique. The n-type semiconducting ZnO mesoporous nanofibers were obtained from polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and a zinc nitrate precursor in ethanol and water after calcination treatment at 520 degrees C for 1 h. The as-synthesized PVP-ZnO and calcined ZnO nanofibers were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The vibrational properties of the ZnO mesoporous nanofibers were recorded by micro-Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the calcined ZnO mesoporous nanofibers have a single phase with good crystallinity.