Long alpha-Fe2O3 hollow fibers have been prepared through a facile sol-gel combined co-electrospinning technique using ferric citrate as precursor, and ci-Fe and gamma-Fe2O3 hollow fibers have been obtained by reduction and reoxidation at different conditions. The outer diameter of the as-prepared hollow fibers is 0.5-5 mu m with wall thickness of 200-800 nm. The obtained tubular fibers were characterized by thermal gravimetric (TG), FT-IR spectra, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman techniques. In addition, magnetic properties of alpha-Fe and gamma-Fe2O3 hollow fibers have also been investigated. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.