The synthesis of copper bismuth oxide (CuBi2O4)nanorods with single crystal structure by hydrothermal method is first reported here. The prepared CuBi2O4 nanorods are characterized by X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution TEM. It is found that the concentration of reagent cupric acetate has strong effect on the purity and microstructure of the prepared samples. The growth process is investigated in detail. It is proposed that the nanorods are evolved from spherical particles with oriented attachment mechanism followed by dissolution-splitting process. The optical properties of the samples are detected by UV-vis spectrometer and photoluminescence spectrometer and exhibit strong dependence on surface defect states and microstructure feature, which is mainly determined by preparation conditions. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.