Highly crystallined VO(1.6)center dot H(2)O nanodisks assembled from nanoparticles have been successfully fabricated under hydrothermal conditions by using bulk V(2)O(5) and Na(2)S(2)O(3) as the starting materials in the presence of surfactant polyethylene glycol 4000 (PEG-4000). The nanodisks have a diameter of 200 nm and thickness of 40 nm. Hollow nanodisks are occasionally observed, which is similar to Chinese ancient copper coins. The formation of nanodisks can be ascribed to a novel solid-solution-solid growth mechanism. Compared with other methods, the solid state transformation method is simple and economic. In addition, the nanodisks exhibit good electrochemical behavior and promising to be used in lithium-ion battery. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.