We reported a facile strategy for fabricating cross-linked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibers with internal nanoporestructure. PVA nanofibers encapsulated with Fe3O4 nanoparticles were produced by electrospinning, in which nanopores were generated by removal of Fe3O4 particle template and cross linking of PVA simultaneously. The cross-linked PVA nanofibers had enhanced thermal stability compared with that of the as-spun pure ones. It is shown that the pores were uniformly distributed all over the fibers, with an average size of 12 nm. This new method, which can be used to prepare nanoporous PVA nanofibers simply at low cost, is suitable for practical applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.