This paper presents a novel process of extracting lead oxide nanoparticles from cathode-ray tube (CRT) funnel glass using self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) method. The impacts of added amount of funnel glass on the extraction ratio of lead, the lead extraction velocity and the micromorphology, as well as particle size of extracted nanoparticles were investigated. We found that self-propagating reaction in the presence of Mg and Fe2O3 could separate lead preferentially and superfine lead oxide nanoparticles were obtained from a collecting chamber. The separation ratio was related closely to the amount of funnel glass added in the original mixture. At funnel glass addition of no more than 40 wt.%. over 90 wt.% of lead was recovered from funnel glass. High extraction yield reveals that the network structure of funnel glass was fractured due to the dramatic energy generated during the SHS melting process. The PbO nanoparticles collected show good dispersion and morphology with a mean grain size of 40-50 nm. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.