Nano-crystalline particles of CeO2 have been synthesized by a low temperature chemical precipitation method. The precursor materials used in this research were Ce (NO3)3.6H2O, NaOH and diethylene glycol as surfactant. X-ray powder diffraction results showed that face centered cubic CeO2 nanoparticles with crystalline size in nanometer scale were formed. Scanning electron microscopy measurement showed that by increasing the calcinations temperature the crystallite size decreases. The particle size of CeO2 was around 20 nm as estimated by X-ray powder diffraction technique and direct high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observation. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies showed the size of CeO2 particles increase from 10-90 nm by increasing the ratio of diethylene glycol surfactant. The sharp peaks in Fourier transform infrared spectrum determined the purity of CeO2 nanoparticles and absorbance peak of ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy spectrum showed the small bandgap energy of 3.26 ev.