The direct polyol method is used to prepare silver bismuth sulfide AgBiS2 nanorods. X-ray powder diffraction patterns indicate that AgBiS2 is cubic with a cell constant a = 5.651 Angstrom. Transmission electron microscopy images reveal that the product consists of uniform rod-like crystals with diameters of about 40 nm and lengths up to 10 mum. A possible formation mechanism of silver bismuth sulfide is proposed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.