Chromium oxide gel material was synthesised and appeared to be amorphous in X-ray diffraction study. The changes in the structure of the synthetic chromium oxide gel were investigated using hot-stage Raman spectroscopy based upon the results of thermogravimetric analysis. The thermally decomposed product of the synthetic chromium oxide gel in nitrogen atmosphere was confirmed to be crystalline Cr 2 O 3 as determined by the hot-stage Raman spectra. Two bands were observed at 849 and 735 cm −1 in the Raman spectrum at 25 • C, which were attributed to the symmetric stretching modes of O-Cr III -OH and O-Cr III -O. With temperature increase, the intensity of the band at 849 cm −1 decreased, while that of the band at 735 cm −1 increased. These changes in intensity are attributed to the loss of OH groups and formation of O-Cr III -O units in the structure. A strongly hydrogen-bonded water H-O-H bending band was found at 1704 cm −1 in the Raman spectrum of the chromium oxide gel; however, this band shifted to around 1590 cm −1 due to destruction of the hydrogen bonds upon thermal treatment. Six new Raman bands were observed at 578, 540, 513, 390, 342 and 303 cm −1 attributed to the thermal decomposed product Cr 2 O 3 . The use of the hot-stage Raman spectroscopy enabled low-temperature phase changes brought about through dehydration and dehydroxylation to be studied.