Transition metal oxide hierarchical nanotubes for energy applications

We report a general synthetic method for transition metal oxide (TMO) hierarchical nanotube (HNT) structures by a solution-phase cation exchange method from Cu2O nanowire templates. This method leads to the formation of hollow, tubular backbones with secondary, thin nanostructures on the tube surface, which substantially increases the surface reactive sites for electrolyte contacts and electrochemical reactions. As proofs-of-concept, several representative first-row TMO HNTs have been synthesized, including CoOx, NiOx, MnOx, ZnOx and FeOx, with specific surface areas much larger than nanotubes or nanoparticles of corresponding materials. An example of the potential energy storage applications of CoOx HNTs as supercapacitors is also demonstrated.