Anisotropic titanate nanostructures can be synthesized by an environmentally benign, cost efficient and scalable process, the alkaline hydrothermal recrystallization of TiO 2 with yields approaching 100%. Their chemistry offers more variety than that of TiO 2 nanoparticles and promising preliminary results were already achieved on them in the fields of adsorption, catalysis and energy storage. In this review we first discuss the structure, synthesis and functionalization options of titanate nanotubes and nanowires, then the issues related to their industrial scale production, and finally present selected examples of their currently available applications.