Antimony dendritic nanocrystals have been prepared in a large scale by the reduction of Sb3+ with metallic zinc powder at room temperature in aqueous or alcoholic solution. It is found that homogeneous Sb3+ solution and rapid reduction reaction play important role in the formation of Sb dendrites. The possible formation mechanism of Sb dendrites is also investigated. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.