In this study, room-temperature aging has been investigated as an alternative to high-temperature hydrothermal processing for manufacturing Pr(OH)(3) nanorods. It was found that a simple process consisting of precipitation, washing, and room-temperature aging results in the formation of Pr(OH)(3) nanorods that are structurally different to those synthesized by hydrothermal processing. Rather than single crystals, the nanorods were found to consist of crystals viewed down the [1 (2) over bar 10] and [1 (1) over bar 00] axes sharing a common [0001] growth direction. Subsequent calcination yielded Pr6O11 nanorods consisting of cubic crystals viewed down the [1 (1) over bar0] and [1 (1) over bar(2) over bar] directions. The constituent crystals shared a common [110] direction parallel with the longitudinal rod axis. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.