Herein, we developed a facile route to synthesize large-area polycrystalline CdO and Cd1-xCoxO curved nanowires by electrochemical deposition in the oxygen saturated solution of CdCl2 + citric acid at the temperature of 90 degrees C. Cyclic voltammetry was used to study the electrochemical reactions relevant to the film growth, and it reveals that the stabilizing role of citric acid for the electrochemical reduction of Cd(II). The electrochemical formation process of CdO and the parameter effects on the morphologies of deposits were investigated. In addition, Cd1-xCoxO curved nanowires were synthesized, and the effects of the concentrations of Cd2+ and Co2+ ions and deposition potentials on the compositions of Cd1-xCoxO alloy nanowires were studied. The result of magnetic property measurement shows the ferromagnetism of Cd1-xCoxO curved nanowires. The coercivity field (H-c) is about 66.6 Oe, and the remanent magnetization (M-r) is about 0.0045 emu/g, revealing a ferromagnetic behavior. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.