Homogeneous and fine bismuth titanate (BIT) nanoplate-like powders were synthesized by a modified and simple sol-gel method. The thermal gravimetry-differential thermal analysisderivative differential thermal analysis indicated that BIT gel decomposes in two steps posited at approximately 2781 and 4321C, and BIT began to crystallize before 4501C. Based on the high-temperature X-ray diffraction results, it was concluded that the crystallization temperature of BIT synthesized by the present method was about 4251C and there was no evidence of the formation of an intermediate phase. The BIT crystal structure belonged to the orthorhombic phase with lattice parameters a 5 5.420 Å , b 5 5.431 Å , and c 5 33.273 Å . Field emissionscanning electron microscopy revealed that fine and uniform BIT nanoplate-like powders, about 30 nm in size, were obtained after sintering at 5001C. With increasing temperature, the BIT grains rapidly grew and the coalescence of adjacent grains took place. The synthesis temperatures adopted were substantially lower than those reported in the other literatures.