Rutile titania microspheres with diameters of about 2-5 mu m have been synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method. The products are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope, EDXA, X-ray diffractometer, and UV-Vis-NIR. It is found that each microsphere is composed of radially aligned nanorods with diameters of about 100 nm and lengths of 2 mu m. The influence of the reaction time on the morphologies of TiO2 microspheres has been investigated. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.