TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The substoichiometric composition of titanium oxide comprises titanium oxides (Ti9O17, Ti6O11 or Ti4O7). The core has a diameter as measured across a shortest cross-section of the core that ranges from several nanometers to several hundred nanometers. The titania comprises anatase, rutile, brookite and/or bronze. The hydrogen titanate comprises hydrogen trititanate, hydrogen dititanate monohydrate, hydrated hydrogen pentatitanate, hydrogen tetratitanate hydrate, hydrogen titanate hydrates ((H2O)(0.25)Ti4O7(OH)2 or (H2O)Ti4O7(OH)2), hydrogen octatitanate and/or hydrogen tetratitanate monohydrate. The titanium based compound is doped with a compound comprising lithium, sodium, potassium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, fluorine, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, calcium, scandium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper and/or zinc. The reducing atmosphere is a flow of hydrogen (preferred) and/or a carbon monoxide. Preferred Method: In titanium oxide (I), n is inversely proportional to the temperature applied during the reducing step. The step of reducing is carried out for 0.5-20 hours. The step of exposing the nanoscale titanium based compound to the carbon source comprises either: allowing a gaseous carbon source to flow through the nanoscale titanium based compound at an elevated temperature of 400-800 degrees C for 1-60 minutes; or combining the nanoscale titanium based compound with the carbon source in a solution and heating the combination for 2-6 hours at an elevated temperature of 100-300 degrees C.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The carbon layers are present at 1-30. The carbon source/gaseous carbon source is an alkane, alkene, alkyne and/or sugar. The alkane is methane, ethane, propane or butane. The alkene is ethylene (preferred), propene or butylene. The alkyne is acetylene or cyclopropene. The sugar is sucrose, lactose or fructose. EXAMPLE - Hydrogen trititanate nanowires (1 g) were placed inside an alumina crucible. The crucible was then placed in a hot zone of a thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) furnace under flowing ethylene (50 standard cubic centimeters per minute (sccm)), and flowing hydrogen (100 sccm). The temperature was raised as 25-700 degrees C in 8 minutes and kept at 700 degrees C for an additional 10 minutes. Then, the flow of ethylene was closed off and the temperature was raised to 950 degrees C. After 3 hours at 950 degrees C, the crucible was removed from the thermal CVD furnace. A black product (Magneli phase titanium oxide (Ti9O17) nanowires coated with carbon layers) was collected from the crucible.