Ag nanowires with zigzag and linear morphologies were fabricated using a one-pot polyol synthesis. The diameters of the nanowires were adjusted from 50 to 200 nm by changing the concentration of PVP in reaction solutions. Quasi-cubic particles, linear nanowires, and zigzag nanowires were created through adjusting the reaction parameters. Cl- and O-2 govern the morphology of resulting samples. Reaction time and temperature, as well as the kind of solvents affected the morphologies of the linear nanowires. The bending angles of the zigzag nanowires were varied with changing preparation parameters. These results indicate that twinned-crystal seeds play an important role for the growth of anisotropic Ag nanowires. The morphology of Ag nanostructures can be tuned by controlling the interplay between the population of the twinned-crystal seeds and the concentration of NaCl. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.