Pure yttrium oxide (Y2O3) was prepared by solution combustion technique using disodium ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA-Na-2) as fuel at similar to 350 degrees C. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) pattern of Y2O3 revealed cubic crystalline structure with crystallite size in the range of 18-23 nm. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated the foamy and fluffy nature of the sample. Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed four prominent absorption with peaks at 3395, 1433, 875 and 566 cm(-1). From the optical absorption studies the energy gap of the synthesized sample was found to be 5.72 eV. Two well resolved thermoluminescence (TL) glows with peaks at 475 and 626 K were observed in gamma-irradiated Y2O3. The glow curves were analyzed and the average activation energy was found to be 0.505 and 0.977 eV respectively. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.