Bismuth with rod-like shape was prepared by refluxing an aqueous dispersion of spherical colloids.The spherical colloids of bismuth were generated by reducing bismuth nitrate with ascorbic acid in the presence of cethyltrimethylammonitm bromide (CTAB) and ethylene diamine tetraacetic (EDTA). The mixed solution was refluxed at temperature of 60～70 ℃ for about 5 hours to get bismuth nanorods with a diameter about 10～30 nm.Experimental results showed that this method could facilitate the growth of these rod-like nanomaterials. Various techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected-area-electron diffraction (SAED), and x-ray diffraction (XRD) have been used to characterize the nanorods.
