A simple vapor phase growth method was used for large-scale synthesis of high-purity Mn3O4 nanowires on silicon substrates. The microstructure, morphology and chemical composition of as-grown Mn3O4 nanowires were investigated using the X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy methods. The products were composed of pure and single crystalline tetragonal structure Mn3O4 nanowires. The nanowires had an average diameter of similar to 200 nm and length of 10 mu m. Magnetic measurements showed that Mn3O4 nanowires had a high Curie temperature, T-c, around 51 K and a large coercive force of about 5710 Oe. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.