ZnS nanowires, with diameters around 30 nm and lengths up to 2.5 mum, had been successfully synthesized from solutions containing an anionic surfactant, sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT). Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern indicated that the product was pure polycrystalline cubic-phase beta-ZnS. The morphology and size of the as-synthesized product were determined by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effects of some of the key reaction parameters (such as the ratio of surfactant to water, the reactant concentration and reaction temperature, etc.) had been explored in this paper. A growth mechanism of ZnS nanowires by micelle-template inducing reaction was also proposed. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.