Large-scale and high-purity bis(8-hydroxyquinoline) magnesium nanoribbons with an average width of 125 nm, a thickness of 25 nm, and a length up to several hundreds of micrometers, were synthesized via a facile solvothermal route. The room-temperature photoluminescence spectrum of the products showed a strong and stable blue-green emission centered at 482 nm under excitation at 378 nm. And the as-prepared nanoribbons exhibited linear current-voltage characteristics and excellent photoresponse. As the light source was switched on and off, the currents could be reversibly switched between high and low values at a voltage of 0.1 V. which might be useful in the fabrication of photosensor and photoswitch microdevices or nanodevices in the future. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.