Nanometric powders in the TiO
2
-CeO
2
system were synthesized using sol-gel methods aiming at corrosion inhibitor preparation. The precursors employed were Ti(OiPr)
4
as TiO
2
source and Ce(NO
3
)
3
·6H
2
O or Ce(CH
3
CO
2
)
3
·xH
2
O as CeO
2
source. Several parameters were varied, like the cerium precursor (cerium nitrate or cerium acetate) and the TiO
2
:CeO
2
molar ratios. For both cerium sources binary powders with TiO
2
:CeO
2
= 4:1 or 1:1 molar ratios were prepared. The obtained materials were dried 12 h in an oven at 100 °C and then thermally treated for 1 h at 400 °C with a heating rate of 1 °C·min
-1
in order to eliminate the water and organic residues. In all cases, nanometric – predominantly amorphous – powders have been obtained which crystallized after the 1 h thermal treatment at 400 °C. The only exception was recorded for the TiO
2
:CeO
2
= 4:1 composition prepared from the Ce(NO
3
)
3
·6H
2
O precursor which remained amorphous after the thermal treatment. Even though the primary particle sizes were ~ 4-5 nm, the material is constituted from aggregates larger than 50 nm. The desired presence of cerium in two valence states, necessary in active corrosion protection, was achieved and it was put into evidence by XPS and DTA/TGA for the TiO
2
:CeO
2
= 4:1 binary compositions. Future studies have to be performed in order to reduce the agglomeration of the material.