Chromium oxide nanoparticles have been synthesized using chromium nitrite and sodium oleate. The synthesized material was structurally characterized using X-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The X-ray diffraction study reveals that synthesized powder is phase pure chromium oxide. The scanning electron microscopy confirms the nanostructure of the particles. The morphology of Cr2O3 was like rice grain with an average grain size of 100 nm. The magnetic property of the chromium nanoparticles was studied. The magnetic properties were studied as a function of temperature and applied magnetic field. In the zero-field-cooled (ZFC) and FC measurements, irreversibility was observed at 250 K. It was observed that chromium oxide nanoparticles show ferromagnetic behavior below the blocking temperature. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.