Synthesis of narrow-dispersed nanocrystalline TiO2 was investigated by surfactant-aided solvothermal synthetic method in toluene solutions. Titanium isopropoxide (TIP) was used as precursor, which was decomposed at high temperature in the surfactant-dissolved solution. After the solution was thermally treated at 250degreesC for 20 h in an autoclave, low-dispersed TiO2 nanocrystalline particles with average size of < 6 nm were synthesized. When sufficient amount of TIP or surfactant was added in the solution, long dumbbell-shaped nanorods were formed, which may be due to the oriented growth of particles along [001] axis. Characterization of products was investigated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.