Ultrafine fibrous membranes of pely(vlnyl alcohol)(PVA)were prepared by electrospinning from aqueous solutions of fully hydrolyzed PVA．The morphology of the electrospun PVA fibere was observed under a scanning electron microscope．The crystallization behavior was investigated by X—ray diffraction(XRD)．Mechanical properties and water up—take of the fibrous PVA membrane were also evaluated．Results suggested that the average diameter of ultrafine PVA fibers was(184±26)nm．XRD analysis exhibited poor development of crystallinity in electrospun fibrous PVA membranes．The tensile strength．tensile modulus and elongation at broak of the fibrous PVA membrane wero(5．10±0．77)MPa

(236±27)MPa and(8．28±2．38)％ respectively

indicating weak mechanical properties compared with the casting PVA film．Water up—take of fibrous PVA membranes was more than 300％

hisher than that of the casting PVA film．Crosslinking of the fibrous PVA membrane did not show significant influence on its water up-take．