High quality titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized by arc discharge method. A mixture of anatase and rutile phase of TiO2 crystal nanostructure with spherical shape was produced with an average diameter of 50 nm (range 10-100 nm). Integrated crystal form and high crystallinity were discovered. Besides a dominate UV emission at 409 nm originating from the radiative annihilation of excitation, a weak peak at 658 nm from the oxygen vacancies related emission is also detected. Due to its simplicity of synthesis, the proposed arc discharge is a promising technique for the fabrication of TiO2 nanoparticles. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.