The synthesis of ZrO2: 10 mol% Sc2O3 powders by the polyacrylamide technique was carried out using zirconium and scandium precursor solutions, acrylamide, N,N'-methylene-bisacrylamide and ammonium persulfate. The polymerization process occurred in few seconds and, without any precipitation, transparent polymeric gels were obtained. Calcination of the gels produced nanosized ceramic powders fully stabilized in the cubic fluorite structure. High specific surface area powders of 78 m(2)/g,corresponding to similar to 13 nm average particle size for an average crystallite size of 5 nm, evaluated by X-ray diffraction, were obtained after calcination at 500 degrees C. The powders were characterized by in situ high temperature X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Pellets sintered at 1500 degrees C show high values of oxide ion conductivity. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.