Thorny BaCO3 dendritic structures were successfully synthesized by a simple PEG-assisted method. The results revealed that reaction conditions, such as aging time, and the concentration of the PEG, are important factors which determines the morphologies and growth process of the final products. The obtained barium carbonate was characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). As a result, it was found that the morphologies are different in different reaction system. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.