A facile and friendly environmental route has been developed to prepare one-dimensional beta-FeOOH nanorods without any template at low temperature. In the present reaction system, FeCl3 center dot 6H(2)O was used as a single iron precursor. Effects of different experimental conditions on morphology and polymorph of the as-prepared samples were studied. Compared with the urea, the concentration of FeCl3 influenced evidently the length of the as-formed beta-FeOOH nanorods. The aspect ratio of the sample was adjusted from 6 to 24 by changing the concentration of FeCl3. When the experimental temperature increased from 70 to 80 degrees C, the morphology of the resulting beta-FeOOH changed from spindle to rod. The influences of different kinds of electrolytes on the final products were also studied. The results demonstrated that different electrolytes (KCl, KSCN, NaNO3 and NH4Cl) can strongly influence the sizes and structures of the as-prepared samples. Compared with various surfactants, the anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), affected significantly the morphology and size of the as-prepared samples. Nanoribbon-shaped beta-FeOOH was synthesized in the presence of SDS for the first time. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.