1-(o-Cyanostyryl)-4-(p-cyanostyryl) benzene (EB) and 1,4-bis(o-cyanostyryl) benzene (ER) were two fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs) widely used in textile industry. The major subject in this work was to investigate whether EB and ER could be introduced into polystyrene (PS) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) nanofiber by electro-spinning. Another aim of this work was to detect the intensity of photoluminescence (IPL) of EB and ER in the nanofiber of PS and PVP. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) revealed that the diameter of the obtained nanofiber ranged from 74 to 366 run. The ultraviolet (UV) spectra demonstrated that EB and ER existed in PS and PVP nanofiber. In addition, the concentrations of EB and ER in PS and PVP nanofiber were calculated according to the determination of UV spectra. Moreover, the IPLs of EB and ER in PS nanofiber increased magnificently, especially EB in PS nanofiber. On the contrary, the IPLs of these two FWAs in PVP nanofiber decreased remarkably. This information might be useful in the application for textile industry. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.