Doped cerium oxide (CeO2) based electrolytes are attractive alternative materials to replace the existing yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) used as electrolyte for SOFC (solid oxide fuel cells). Cerium oxide electrolytes offer a similar performance to YSZ electrolytes at a lower cell operating temperature (similar to600-800 degreesC), therefore reducing thermal stresses and solid state reactions among the cell components. Doped Ce1- xMexO2-x/2 (Me = Gd, Sm or Y) fine powders were synthesized from nitrate salts dissolved in water using a radio frequency inductively coupled plasma reactor. It was demonstrated that the relative concentrations of Ce and dopants fed in the solutions were retained in the synthesized powders. The products were all nano-crystalline with the basic crystal structure of CeO2 and the crystal size of the products was essentially independent of the dopant used. The particle size distributions obtained were multimodal and in most cases trimodal. The results obtained differ from a previously reported mechanism of particle synthesis from liquid precursors.