A novel microwave roast process for synthesizing rutile TiO2 having high crystallinity from Panzhihua sulphate titanium slag is developed in the present work. Properties of samples at various stages of reactions including the crystal structure, microstructure and molecular structure, were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Raman techniques, respectively. The work also addressed the phase transformation of sulphate titanium slag before and after microwave heating. The result of XRD showed that under the microwave roasting process, the sulphate titanium slag was decomposed following acidification of the sodium titanates. The SEM analysis showed morphology transformations during the whole process and the short rod-like structure of rutile after the treatment. The Raman spectroscopy demonstrated that the peaks of 141 cm(-1), 254.8 cm(-1), 428.8 cm(-1), and 606.2 cm(-1) corresponded to the characteristic patterns of rutile TiO2. Based on the above results, this process could be an efficient way for rutile TiO2 preparation utilizing Panzhihua sulphate titanium slag. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.