ZnO nanoparticles in the size range from 5 to 15 nm were prepared by zinc-lithium-acetate system. The morphologies and structures of ZnO were characterized by TEM, XRD and FT-IR spectra. UV-visible results shows that the absorption of ZnO nanoparticles is blue shifted with decrease in particles size. Furthermore, photoluminescence spectra of the ZnO nanoparticles were also investigated. The ZnO nanoparticles have strong visible-emission intensity and their intensities depend upon size of ZnO nanoparticles.