Transparent conductive indium tin oxide （ITO） nanoparticles were synthesized by a novel sol-gel method. Granulated indium and tin were dissolved in HNO3 and partially complexed with citric acid. A sol-gel process was induced when tertiary butyl alcohol was added dropwise to the above solution. ITO nanopartides with an average crystallite size of 18.5 nm and surface area of 32.6 m^2 ]g were obtained after the gel was heat-treated at 700 ℃, The ITO nanoparticles showed good sinterability, the starting sintering temperature decreased sharply to 900 ℃, and the 1400 ℃ sintered pellet had a density of 98.1% of theoretical density （TD）.
Indium tin oxide （ITO） nanoparticles with crystallite size of 12.6 nm and specific surface area of 45.7 m 2 ·g-1 were synthesized by co-precipitation method.The indium solution was obtained by dissolving metal indium in HNO3.The tin solution was obtained by dissolving metal tin in HNO3 and followed by stabilizing with citric acid.The free of chlorine ions in the synthesis process brought several advantages：shortening the synthesis time,decreasing the particle agglomeration,decreasing the chlorine content in the ITO nanoparticles and improving the particle sinterability.This is the first time to report the synthesis of ITO nanoparticles free from chlorine contamination without using the expensive metal alkoxides as starting materials.
