We report a simple synthetic approach to coaxially grow transition metal oxide (TMO) nanostructures on carbon nanotubes (CNT) with ready control of phase and morphology. A thin (~4 nm) sulfonated-polystyrene (SPS) pre-coating is essential for the deposition of transition metal based materials. This layer has abundant sulfonic groups (−SO 3 −) that can effectively attract Ni 2+, Co 2+, Zn 2+ ions through electrostatic interaction and induce them via hydrolysis, dehydration and recrystallization to form coaxial (NiO, Co 3O 4, NiCoO 2 and ZnCo 2O 4) shells and a nanosheet-like morphology around CNT. These structures possess a large active surface and enhanced structural robustness when used as electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and electrochemical capacitors (ECs). As electrodes for LIBs, the ZnCo 2O 4 @CNT material shows extremely stable cycling performance with a discharge capacity of 1068 mAh g −1 after 100 cycles at a current density of 400 mAg −1. For EC applications, the NiCoO 2 @CNT exhibits a high capacitance of 1360 Fg −1 at current densities of 10 Ag −1 after 3000 cycles and an overall capacitance loss of only 1.4%. These results demonstrate the potential of such hybrid materials meeting the crucial requirements of cycling stability and high rate capability for energy conversion and storage devices.