(1 - x)(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3-xLiNbO(3) ((1 - x)KNN-xLN) nanoparticles with the mean particle size about 20-30 nm have been prepared by an economical sol-gel routes using Nb2O5 as Nb source. Due to the high sintering ability of nano-particles, fine-grained KNN-LN lead-free ceramics have been densified at the temperature below 1000 degrees C. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the phase structure of the ceramics changed from orthorhombic to tetragonal at x = 0.08-0.10. When the x reached 0.10 and above, the perovskite structure could not be maintained and the impurity phases of K3Li2Nb5O15 and LiNbO3 appeared, indicating that x = 0.10 is near the solubility limit. Optimized parameters, such as d(33) = 170 pC/N and k(p) = 0.40, were achieved in 0.90KNN-0.10LN systems. Due to the merits of fine-grained structure and low sintering temperatures, it will be helpful to the application of KNN-LN materials for lead-free multilayer piezoelectric actuator. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.