Under microwave-assisted synthesis, polyaniline (PANI) products with multiple nanostructures were synthesized by the oxidative polymerization of aniline and ammonium peroxodisulfate in the different concentrations of hydrochloric acid solutions. The structural analysis of PANI using FTIR, UV, and XPS indicated that phenazine-like oligomers were produced in acid-free and low acidic systems. Moreover, long linear PANI chains were obtained in the presence of highly acidic solutions. The morphology of PANI observed by SEM and TEM showed that nanoscale structures, including stacked sheets, nanotubes, branched nanofibers, and uniform nanofibers, occurred respectively in acid-free solution, low acidity, medium and high acidity systems, effectively regulating by acidity. The formation mechanism of PANI nanostructures was explored here. The sheets were formed by the oligomers containing flat phenazine rings that can be stacked together with strong - interactions. Furthermore, nanotubes were fabricated by the self-curling of thin sheets consisted of phenazine-like oligomers with numerous linear units in the chains. The nanofibers are supposed to form by the linear PANI chains and the secondary growth during aniline polymerization caused the branch formation on the nanofibers. All results indicate that acidity, rather than microwave assistance, is the critical factor that determines the polymerization mechanism and the final nanostructure. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 3357-3369