Nanostructured tungsten oxide (WO
3
) particles were prepared in aqueous solution by mimicking biomineralization. Precursor WO
3
· H
2
O particles were generated by ageing a 60°C (NH
4
)
10
W
12
O
41
· 5H
2
O solution containing gelatin. This was followed by heating to 600°C in air for thermal conversion to WO
3
. The addition of gelatin led to the formation of layered structures consisting of WO
3
· H
2
O platy particles, which contained segmented, block-like nanoscale units. The macroscopic layered structure was preserved after thermal conversion to WO
3
, while the morphology of the block-like units changed to orthogonally crossed nanorods.
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