The morphology of the produced Ag nanoparticle is controlled successfully by UV irradiating the reaction solution of AgAc/ethyl alcohol/1-octadeconal/1-dodecanethiol. With use of a novel solution such as soft template, Ag nanorods with different sizes and different ratios of length to diameter can be obtained by adjusting the concentrations of the solution compositions. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.