Bare and coated TiO 2 nanoparticles with particle sizes d Ͻ 5 nm have been synthesized in a microwave plasma process. Structural properties of these materials have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and perturbed angular correlation ͑PAC͒ measurements of the electric quadrupole interaction ͑QI͒ at the probe nucleus 181 Ta on the metal site of TiO 2 at temperatures 290ഛ T ഛ 1450 K. The electron diffraction of the uncoated nanoparticles in the as-synthesized state reflects long range order in the Ti sublattice. Depending on the particles size, either the anatase or the rutile phase of TiO 2 was found. Anatase appears to be the stable form of nanocrystalline TiO 2 below d ϳ 10 nm. The PAC spectra of these nanocrystalline oxides are characterized by a broad distribution of strong quadrupole interactions, indicating a strongly disordered oxygen environment of the metal sites. Upon annealing, the grain size grows from d Ͻ 5 nm after synthesis to d Ͼ 100 nm after 1300 K. PAC spectra taken in the same temperature range show that with increasing temperature, the initially disordered state transforms to well-ordered rutile TiO 2 . The data suggest a critical grain size of d ϳ 10 nm for the onset of the ordering process. The spectra of coarse-grained TiO 2 are reached at a particle size d ജ 30 nm. In n-TiO 2 coated with Al 2 O 3 and ZrO 2 both the cores and the coatings were found to grow with increasing temperature; the cores of the coated particles, however, grow much less than those of the noncoated particles. The PAC method was used to investigate the QI in both TiO 2 cores and in the ZrO 2 coating of n-TiO 2 / ZrO 2 at different temperatures. These data suggest that although the coated particles grow with temperature, the ordering process is obstructed, possibly by a solid state reaction between the TiO 2 kernels and the coatings.