Nanowires TiO2 were successfully synthesized from layered titanate Na2Ti3O7 particles by a simple soft chemical process. Compared with other synthetic routes where some templates or reactants were introduced into reaction system, only raw material and dilute HCl were used in this simple method. The diameters of nanowires are ca. 20-100 nm and the length up to several hundred micrometers. Formation of brookite TiO2D phase in the nanowires was confirmed by XRD and TEM measurement. Based on our experimental results, an exfoliating-splitting model was proposed for formation of nanowire structure. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.