A simple low-temperature chemical method to produce metastable hexagonal phase molybdenum oxide (h-MoO3) nanorods and their excellent structural characteristics has been demonstrated. In this approach, h-MoO3 samples were prepared by precipitating molybdenum oxide from an ammonium paramolybdate solution by the adding nitric acid. The structure of h-MoO3 nanorods was examined in detail using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The SEM data reveal that the nanorod h-MoO3 crystals have the shape of straight hexagonal rods with an aspect ratio similar to 60. The HR-TEM results confirm the hexagonal structure of the MoO3 nanocrystals. Computations of the observed TEM data along with x-ray diffraction pattern further confirm the stability of the nanostructure of h-MoO3 rods. (C) 2010 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3397791]