LaOCl nanotubes were fabricated by calcination of the coaxial electrospun PVP/LaCl3@Oil composite nanofibers, in which oil is the core layer while PVP/LaCl3 forms the shell one respectively. A series of tests such as FTIR, XRD, FESEM, (HR)TEM, EDS, N-2 adsorption-desorption and CO2-TPD were conducted to characterize the prepared nanomaterials. XRD and EDS results show that the resultant materials consist of pure tetragonal LaOCl, while FESEM and (HR)TEM images indicate that the materials are nanotubes with a rush surface. The inner diameter and the wall thickness of nanotubes are calculated to be around 200 and 50 nm, respectively. The BET surface area of the obtained nanotubes is calculated to be 67.5 m(2)/g. And CO2-TPD experiment shows that the nanotubes possess a high CO2 adsorptive capacity of 0.3352 mL/g. It would be used as gas sensing materials. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.