This article describes exploratory experiments into the feasibility of using sucrose, C6H12O6, as an organic precursor for production of zirconia, ZrO2, nanoparticles by the sol-gel method. The experiments show that this is, indeed, feasible and that the resulting particles appear to be at least as small as they are when using conventional organic precursors. Analyses of the produced particles are presented, including TEM microscopy and X-ray diffraction to determine chemical composition, crystal structure and mean particle size using the Scherrer formula, single and multipoint BET analysis to determine the specific surface area and thermal analysis (TA) to determine the chemical and physical properties of the samples. The advantages of producing nanoparticles with this method include ease and flexibility in terms of the particle chemical composition. In addition to producing high-quality particles, the new organic precursors have the advantage of being ubiquitous, cost-effective and non-toxic. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.