CeO(2) nanotubes have been grown electrochemically using a porous alumina membrane as a template. The resulting material has been characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy, high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy tomography, high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM), and electron energy loss spectroscopy. According to SEM, the outer diameter of the nanotubes corresponds to the pore size (200 nm) of the alumina membrane, and their length ranges between 30 and 40 microm. HREM images have revealed that the width of the nanotube walls is about 6 nm. The catalytic activity of these novel materials for the CO oxidation reaction is compared to that of a polycrystalline powder CeO(2) sample prepared by a conventional route. The activity of the CeO(2) nanotubes is shown to be in the order of 400 times higher per gram of oxide at 200 degrees C (77.2 x 10(-2) cm(3) CO(2) (STP)/(gxs) for the nanotube-shaped CeO(2) and 0.16 x 10(-2) cm(3) CO(2) (STP)/(gxs) for the powder CeO(2)).

An electrodeposition process is used to synthesize nanotubes of a lanthanum-containing phase, employing porous alumina membranes as templates. This method should lead to the formation of La(OH)(3) nanowires, according to the previous results presented by Bocchetta et al (2007 Electrochem. Commun. 9 683-8), which can be decomposed to La(2)O(3), as the latter shows more interest for different applications. The results obtained by means of different electron microscopy techniques indicate that this method leads to the formation of nanotubes of about 200 nm in diameter and 30-40 µm in length, instead of the nanowires proposed in the literature. Additionally, the chemical characterization demonstrates that the material synthesized is composed of lanthanum hydroxycarbonate. The presence of carbonates is found to be crucial in determining the conditions for the preparation of La(2)O(3) from the nanotubes here obtained.

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