The electrospinning technique has been regarded as the simplest and most effective techniques for massive fabrication of nanomaterials. Various inorganic micro- and nano-fibers have been successfully electrospun in recent years. These fibers can be amorphous, polycrystalline, dense, porous, or hollow. In this review, the fabrication of patterned inorganic nanofibers via electrospinning is presented. After a brief description of the setups for electrospinning, we choose to concentrate on the mechanisms and theoretical models that have been developed for electrospinning. It introduces electrohydrodynamic (EHD) theory that allows the prediction of organic fiber diameter. And the equation was revised in order to be applicable to most inorganic electrospinning systems, as well as have the ability to control the diameter and morphology. It reviews fabrication of aligned nanofibers by using different collectors such as a cylinder collector with high rotating speed, a thin wheel with sharp edge, a pair of split electrodes and the knife-edged counter-electrodes, and fabrication of hollow nanofibers by using sacrificial templates and coaxial electrospinning. At last, it reviews the functional hierarchical structured nanofibers prepared by in situ sol-gel and post-processing methods such as hydrothermal synthesis and chemical vapor deposition. Additionally, the future trends of these interesting patterned inorganic nanofibers, especially the functional hierarchical structured nanofibers are outlooked. Contents 1 Introduction
2 Set-up and principle of electrospinning
3 Preparation of inorganic nanofibers
3.1 Preparation of solution
3.2 Electrospinning of solution
3.3 Calcination of as-spun nanofibers
4 Preparation of patterned inorganic nanofibers
4.1 Aligned nanofibers
4.2 Hollow nanofibers
4.3 Functional hierarchical structured nanofibers
5 Applications of inorganic nanofibers
6 Conclusion and prospects