A new phase of cadmium titanate was prepared by hydrothermal method under low temperature of 120degreesC. The electron diffraction investigation showed that the structure of the new phase is hexagonal with lattice parameters a = b = 5.2099 Angstrom and c = 4.6811 Angstrom, which have been calibrated by its X-ray diffraction pattern. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results suggested that the new phase can be described as CdTiO3. Furthermore, it was observed that the post-annealing at 700degreesC and 1050degreesC led to the transition of the new phase to the known ilmenite and then perovskite phase, respectively. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.