Mercury telluride (HgTe) nanorods and nanoparticles were synthesized at room temperature via sonochemical method. The crystalline HgTe nanorods were formed from mercury perchlorate hydrate and tellurium powder in an ethylenediamine solvent system mixed with a complexing agent of 1-thioglycerol. In addition, the HgTe nanoparticles and the amorphous Te material were produced in the same solvent system without the 1-thioglycerol. The synthesized HaTe nanorods, H Te nanoparticles, and amorphous Te were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. In addition, the role of 1-thioglycerol in the synthesis of the nanocrystalline HgTe is discussed in this paper. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.