Rutile phase exhibits higher refractive index and h id ing power, good chemical stability, and is becoming a candidate material for the high-temperature separation and catalysis applications. The thermodynamically stable feature of rutile among the three polymorphs of TiO 2 usually hinders ob taining nano-sized rutile phase by a conventional calcining way. However, acid peptization of amorphous TiO 2 is favorable to the formation of rutile phase. I n this work, well-crystallized and well-dispersed rod-like rutile particles w ith specific surface areas of 49.1 and 35.0 m 2/g were prepared by hydrothermal ly treating the acid peptized TiO 2 amorphous sols at relatively low temperatur es of 200 ℃ or 240 ℃, respectively. The formation of non-touching rutile part icles is attributed to high long-range electrostatic forces between particles i n the presence of the high concentration of the peptizer. The acid peptization w ould easily break the ≡Ti-O-Ti≡ bonds to form ≡Ti-OH or HO-Ti-OH species depending on the amount of acid, and create conditions for the formation of rut ile nuclei after structural rearrangements. Rutile phase exhibits higher refractive index and h idling power, good chemical stability, and is becoming a candidate material for the high-temperature separation and catalysis applications. The thermodynamically stable feature of rutile among the three polymorphs of TiO 2 usually hinders ob taining nano -sized rutile phase by a conventional calcining way. However, acid peptization of amorphous TiO 2 is favorable to the formation of rutile phase. I n this work, well-crystallized and well-dispersed rod-like rutile particles w ith specific surface areas of 49.1 and 35.0 m 2 / g were prepared by hydrothermal ly treating the acid peptized TiO 2 amorphous sols at relatively low temperatur es of 200 ° C or 240 ° C, respectively. The formation of non-touching rutile particles is attributed to high long-range electrostatic forces between particles in the presence of the high concentration of the peptizer. The acid peptization would easily break the ≡ Ti-O-Ti≡ bonds to form ≡ Ti-OH or HO-Ti-OH species depending on the amount of acid, and create conditions for the formation of rut ile nuclei after structural rearrangements.