The ability of amphiphilic compounds to self-assemble into well-defined structures can be taken advantage of for synthesis of inorganic materials with nanometer dimensions. The principle, which is biomimetic in character, is discussed with special attention put on three areas: microemulsion-based synthesis of nanoparticles, preparation of mesoporous materials from surfactant templates, and surfactant-mediated crystallization. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.