Tellurium (Te) nanotubes and nanowires have been controllably and directly transformed from the commercially available Te particles by the solvothermal process in different solvents. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern reveal that the as-synthesized Te nanotubes and nanowires are single crystalline and hexagonal in nature. The morphology evolution of the Te nanostructures along with the reaction time indicates that the formation of Te nanotubes or nanowires resulted from the rolling of Te nanobelt. Moreover, a semi-experimental parameter taking into account the physiochemical properties of solvents, including the surface tension, vapor pressure and Hansen parameters, is presented to judge the formation of Te nanotubes or nanowires. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.