A newly luminescent nanomaterial, monoclinic wolframite-type HgWO4 nanoshuttles (length: 200–300 nm; diameter: 100–150 nm) is prepared through ultrasonic method. For HgWO4 nanoshuttles, the fluorescent (FL) emitting peaks at 430 and 330 nm obviously blue shift compared with those of corresponding bulk crystals. Meanwhile, the latter almost disappear after ultrasonic irradiation procedure. A UV-visible blue-shifted (about 130 nm) absorption peak is observed at 280 nm and a new absorption peak is observed at 203 nm. FTIR results show all absorption peaks below 800 cm-1 shift to a longer wavenumber region, whereas those above 800 cm-1 remain invariable. All those unique optical performances might result from both quantum size effects and the involvement of the incompact d10 electrons. Moreover, the possible synthesis mechanism of HgWO4 nanoshuttles is also investigated.
