The work reported here involved a study of the growth kinetics of V(2)O(5)nH(2)O nanostructures under hydrothermal conditions. The coarsening process of V(2)O(5)nH(2)O nanoribbons was followed by subjecting the as-prepared suspensions to hydrothermal treatments at 80 degrees C for periods ranging from 0 to 7200 min. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirms that the hydrothermal treatments at 80 degrees C caused no significant modification of the long-range order structure of samples subjected to different periods of hydrothermal treatment. Field emission scanning transmission electron microscope (FE-STEM) was used to analyze the morphology and width distribution of the nanostructures. The results indicated that the crystal growth mechanism in the [1 0 0] direction of vanadium pentoxide 1D nanostructure under hydrothermal conditions is well described by the oriented attachment (OA) mechanism. This evidence was supported by HRTEM images showing the existence of defects at the interface between nanostructures, which is characteristic of the oriented attachment (OA) mechanism. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.