In this paper, the Chebyshev collocation spectral method for one-dimensional radiative heat transfer equation with participating media is presented; and sequentially the iterative and direct solvers are developed. Implementation of the new method shows its flexibility to complex problems: highly anisotropic and space-dependent scattering. The new solvers can provide exponential convergence in space and can capture large oscillations. Numerical results verified the high accuracy of the new method, and its competitive ability compared with other newly appeared methods. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.