Submicrometer ZnO tubes have been synthesized by a polymer based template approach using sot-gel deposition. Zinc acetate, a precursor to ZnO, was deposited on catalytically active electrospun polycarbonate fibers similar to 250 +/- 100 nm in diameter. Thermal degradation of the core fibers resulted in the oxidation of zinc acetate to produce ZnO nanotubes with diameters of similar to 500 +/- 100 nm and an average wall thickness of similar to 100 +/- 50 nm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive spectroscopy, themogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and UV-visible spectroscopy were used to characterize the composition, structure, and morphology of the tubes. Powder X-ray diffraction results showed that a wurtzite crystalline phase was obtained. The UV-visible absorption spectrum was red-shifted by 25 inn due to narrowing of the ZnO band gap (similar to 3.22 eV) as a result of Co doping. Similarly, green band emission was not observed in the emission spectrum, While emission lifetime was determined to be 620 ps from photoluminescence studies.