BaCO3 with different morphologies, such as dumbbell-like, pillar-like, peanut-like and ellipsoid-like have been successfully synthesized using citric acid (CA) as chelating ligand via a simple polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-assisted method. The effects of the pH of the starting solutions, reaction time and the molar ratio of CA/Ba2+ on the morphologies of BaCO3 were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and the infrared (IR) spectrum of the sample are used to characterize the obtained products. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd.