Acicular strontium barium potassium niobate seed crystals with approximate composition Sr0.36Ba0.51K0.31Nb2O6 can be synthesized from SrCO3, BaCO3 and Nb2O5 in molten salt. When KCl is used as molten salt, unfortunately, the synthesized seed crystals have asymmetric diameter and aspect ratio distribution due to the evaporation of KCl flux. While K2SO4 is used as molten salt, highly anisotropic Sr0.36Ba0.51K0.31Nb2O6 particles and small equi-axed BaSO4 particles are developed, in which BaSO4 particles can be removed by conventional sedimentation treatment. The synthesized seed crystals have the mean diameter of 2.1 mum and the mean aspect ratio of 5.8, which are believed to be ideal templates for the preparation of textured niobate ceramics. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.