By refluxing antimony trichloride (SbCl3) and thiourea in various solvents at suitable reaction conditions, antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) crystallites with a diversity of well-defined morphologies were synthesized. Sb2S3 rods with the average diameter of 800 nm and the length of 7 mum, as well as microtubes with the average outer diameter of 1.2 mum, the average inner diameter of 800 nm and the length of 8 mum, were obtained in 1,2-propanediol at 180degreesC for 10 min. In contrast, a series of experiments under different conditions were carried out to investigate the influencing factors on the reaction. The as-synthesized products were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectra. The results indicate Sb2S3 crystals with different morphologies, including rod-like, tube-like, bowknot-like, flower-like, straw-bundled-like, taken under different experimental conditions. It is found that the reaction temperature, time, solvent and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (as a polymer capping reagent) play important roles in the formation of the final Sb2S3 crystallites with different morphologies. Also, the possible growth mechanism is discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.