A simple, low temperature and low cost method, which was based on heating the mixture of Ti and NH 4 Cl powders in air at 300 °C, has been developed for the controlled synthesis of anatase TiO 2 nanostructures including irregular nanoparticle aggregates, curved nanowires built up by the oriented attachment of nanoparticles, and nanoplates constructed with nanoparticles. The characterization results from X-ray diffraction and Raman spectra indicated that the as-obtained products were anatase TiO 2 . Field emission scanning electron microscope images revealed that the products obtained for 3, 10 and 16 h comprised, in turn, irregular nanoparticle aggregates (8–55 nm), curved nanowires built up by the oriented attachment of nanoparticles (~9 nm), and nanoplates constructed with nanoparticles (~8 nm).