Various liquid-phase syntheses of CoO and Co3O4 nanoparticles have been studied. The experiments focus on two synthesis routes: the coprecipitation and the sol-gel methods combined with thermal decomposition. The effect of synthesis route, the type of precursors (cobalt nitrate/chloride) and precipitation agent (carbonate, hydroxide, oxalic acid, and ammonia), the chemical compositions, pH, application of surfactants (PDMS, Triton X-100, NaDS, NaDBS, TTAB, ethyl acetate, citric acid), and the heat treatments on the properties of particles were investigated. The particle size and distribution have been determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS). The phases and the morphology of products have been analysed by XRD and SEM. The coprecipitation technique is less able to shape the particles than sol-gel technique. PDMS can be applied efficiently as surfactant in preparation methods. The finest particles (around 85 nm) with narrow polydispersity (70-100 nm) and spherical shape could be achieved by using sol-gel technique in medium of 1-propanol and ethyl acetate.