Novel fabrication of silica nanotube by selective photoetching of CdS nanorod template

CdS/silica core–shell nanorod was prepared by silica coating over the CdS nanorod template of which the surface was initially capped by (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane. The silica nanotube with both ends closed was fabricated from the core–shell nanorod by selective photoetching of the core CdS nanorod template with controlled photon energy in the oxygen-saturated aqueous solution including methyl viologen.