Facile route to silver nanotubes

Many novel applications of silver become possible if silver nanotubes can be produced reliably and easily. A simple, template-assisted procedure is reported here. The Figure shows a scanning electron microscopy image of one of the silver nanotubes, which was broken by ultrasonic vibration, demonstrating that the nanostructure is indeed a hollow nanotube and showing that the nanotube is formed of (crystalline) nanoparticles.