A silica nanofiber is derived from a crystalline polymer filament of a
polymer including straight chain polyethyleneimine backbones, which is
capable of forming a water-insoluble crystal in the presence of water
molecules at room temperature, and the crystalline polymer filament in
the silica concentrates metal ions, thereby realizing a composite
nanofiber including metals or metal ions in the silica. Furthermore, the
composite nanofiber of the present invention can be easily produced by
fixing a polymer structure in the silica as the scaffold for metal ions
and concentrating metal ions at the scaffold or reducing the metal ions.
Furthermore, a metal-containing silica nanofiber can be easily obtained
by removing a polymer component from the composite nanofiber, the
composite nanofiber association, and the complex nanofiber structure.
These nanofibers can be assembled and integrated, and the assembled or
integrated association or structure can realize various shapes.