Air oxidation can result in the motion of metal confined in carbon nanotubes (CNTs). This can also be utilized to tailor various hybrid nanostructures. By controllable air-oxidation, as-prepared metal@CNT nanorods (a) can be converted first to core-shell-void nanorods (b), then to metal/metal oxide@CNT nanotubes (c), and finally to mesoporous metal oxide nanotubes (d). The metal/metal oxide@CNT nanotubes and mesoporous metal oxide nanotubes are expected to find many applications, such as in lithium ion batteries, catalysis, magnetic drug delivery, and gas sensing.