Highly uniform single-crystal PbCrO4 nanorods and Pb2CrO5 micro-particles can be selectively synthesized by adjusting the pH value of the parent mixture in the presence of a surfactant of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone). The as-synthesized products are characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.