In this paper, we report the hydrothermal synthesis of manganese oxide nanotube from an aqueous medium of PH 7, using KMnO4 and MnCl2 as inorganic precursors, polyoxyethylene (10) nonyl phenyl ether (TX-10) a surfactant and acetaldehyde an additive. The characterization of X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and N-2 adsorption at 77 K (BET) reveals that the synthesized manganese oxide nanotube has a mesopore size of ca. 3.65 nm and a wall thickness of ca. 12 nm, with the wall being composed of microporous crystals of monoclinic manganite. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) result demonstrates a decrease of the binding energy of the Mn3+ in the manganese oxide nanotube; which may be related to both the nanotubular morphology and the crystalline pore wall. A mechanism of a redox-assisted supramolecular assembly, regulated by acetaldehyde, is postulated. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.