Single-crystalline antimony trisulfide (Sb2S3) nanomaterials with flower-like and rod-like morphologies were successfully synthesized under refluxing conditions by the reaction of antimony trichloride (SbCl3) and thiourea with PEG400 and OP-10 as the surfactants. X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates that the obtained sample is orthorhombic-phase Sb2S3 with calculated lattice parameters a=1.124 nm, b=1.134 nm and c=0.382 nm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show that the flower-like Sb2S3 is 9-10 mu m in size, which is composed of thin leaves with thickness of 0.05-0.2 mu m, width of 0.8-2.2 mu m and length of 2.5-3 mu m, and the rod-like Sb2S3 is 45-360 nm in diameter and 0.7-4 mu m in length, respectively. UV-Vis analysis indicates that the band gap of Sb2S3 nanorods is 1.52 eV, suitable for photovoltaic conversion. A possible mechanism of formation was proposed. The effects of reaction time and surfactants on the growth of nanomaterials with different morphologies were also investigated. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.