Hollow metal nanostructures have received increasing interest because they exhibit unique chemical and physical properties different from their solid counterparts. In this work, the autocatalytic-reduction approach based on the self-decomposing of metal hydroxides and oxides is reported, which is distinct from the traditional template methods. Under solution conditions of a reducing atmosphere, metal hydroxides can serve as both the autocatalytic reagent and the sacrificial templates in the reaction process. It is demonstrated that the autocatalytic-reduction method is a general approach to fabricate a series of metal hollow structures, including hollow Ni nanospheres (NSs), Ni nanotubes (NTs), bead-like Ni NSs, and hollow Cu microspheres. Moreover, the structural diversity of original M(OH)x or MOx/2 (M = metal) templates allows the preparation of size and shape-adjustable templates. A possible mechanism for hollow structure formation is also proposed.
