The barium hexaferrite nanorods were successfully prepared by sol-gel technique combined with polymethylmethacrylate as template. The crystal structure, morphology and magnetic properties of BaFe12O19 with different shape were investigated with Xray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscope and vibrating sample magnetometry. The results show that diameters and lengths of magnetic nanorods are about 60 nm and 300 nm, respectively. The coercivity of rod-shaped BaFe12O19 is increased to 5350 Oe, in comparison with 4800 Oe with plate-shape. The formation mechanism of BaFe12O19 nanorods and reasons resulting in high coercivity are discussed. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.