The syntheses of Nd 2 O 3 nanowires were performed through sol–gel process assisted with porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) as a template. The morphology and the phase composition of the prepared nanowires were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS). The results showed that the Nd 2 O 3 nanowires could be successfully synthesized by using this method. The nanowires had successfully grown into the nanochannels of the AAO template. The prepared nanowires were quite uniform. Both the XRD and EDS examinations revealed that the obtained nanowires were not others but Nd 2 O 3 .