In this paper, we present a new insight into nonequilibrium electrodeposition. Owing to the nanoscale confinement effect of the template channels, the large overpotential leads to a highly nonequilibrium process and generates segmented metal-metal hydroxide one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures. The synthesized Ni-Ni(OH)(x approximate to 2) nanotubes vividly reflect the evolution of the local electrochemical environments, by which both the morphology and the composition have been modulated. The electrochemical mechanisms responsible for this unexpected deposition have been identified and discussed. It was exploited to obtain bi-segmented Ni nanowire-Ni(OH)(x approximate to 2) nanotube. This work opens the way to a versatile synthesis of metal-metal hydroxide 1D nanostructures that could be applicable for the integration of well-aligned metal-hydroxide nanostructures into large-scale energy-storage devices. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.