The bamboo-like turbostratic boron nitride (tBN) tubes were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition method. The as-prepared tBN tubes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), field emission transmission electron microscope, Fourier transformed infrared spectrum, ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectrum and photoluminescence (PL) spectrum. UV-vis spectrum revealed that the product had one broad band gap (4.5-4.7 eV) and PL spectrum showed that it had a visible emission at 457 nm (lambda(ex) = 230 nm). (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.