Using a simple surfactant-assisted pathway, various shapes of crystalline copper sulphide (Cu2S) such as micro and submicron particles, nanorods and nanowires have been synthesized. This type of shape tailoring was possible by varying the molar ratio of cationic and anionic surfactants. Under appropriate condition, uniform nanowires were obtained. This was revealed from scanning and transmission electron microscopy. XRD analysis confirms the formation of monoclinic Cu2S. The optical band gap determined from reflectance spectra was found to have values within the range of 1.22-1.24 eV. The aspect ratio of the nanorods was found to increase with the increase of the concentration of anionic surfactant. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.