Accurate determination of the refractive index of nanoparticles has important ramifications for applications, such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, paints, textiles, and inks. We describe a new method to determine the refractive index of nanoparticles by immersion refractometry with a surface plasmon resonance sensor. With this method, the refractive index of the nanoparticles is perfectly matched with that of the surrounding liquid. We demonstrate this method for calcium fluoride nanoparticles that have an average diameter of 100 nm; the results achieve an accuracy of better than 0.002 refractive index units. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.