The specific surface area of synthetic goethite depends on the preparation: the Fe(III):OH ratio, the rate of base titration of Fe salt, and the temperature and time of crystallization. The crystals also have different morphologies as determined by SEM or TEM. Carbon coating is used to improve the quality of SEM images of nonconducting specimens. We show here that needle-like goethite particles become substantially thicker in the course of standard carbon coating, and the length-to-width ratio obtained for carbon-coated particles is lower than that for the original goethite particles. The morphology of the goethite particles was also studied by tapping mode AFM. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.