Ultrasmall 10-nm-wide boehmite single-crystal nanobelts have been prepared by a simple and efficient "molecule tailoring lamella" route with clear advantages over the traditional high-temperature approach for the large-scale production of I D nanomaterials. Different sized nanobelts can be obtained by only changing the concentration of the tailoring agent. These ultrafine nanobelts should be good candidates for investigating size-induced electrical and optical properties of functional oxides. This novel method has been successfully applied to other ultrasmall hydroxyl nanobelts, such as FeOOH, InOOH. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.