For the purpose of developing a novel and effective nano-CeO2catalyst used in biomass gasification for tar removal, nanocrystalline CeO2particles were successfully prepared by the homogeneous precipitation method, and different approaches including TG, FT-IR, XRD and SEM were used to characterize the CeO2nano-particles and precursors in this study. The analysis results indicated that the synthesized precursor was hydrated cerium basic carbonates and its formula was identified as Ce2O(CO3)2•nH2O, and it can completely transform into nanocrystalline CeO2particles below 400 °C under the air atmosphere. The prepared CeO2nano-particles were found spherical in shape and well dispersed; they had high purity and a fine crystal phase of cubic syngony structure with a mean size of 13 nm.