A series of Eu3 doped lanthanum zirconate (La2Zr2O7) nanoparticles (NPs, 20 +/- 5 nm in diameter) with cubic fluorite structure were facilely synthesized by a kinetically modified molten salt synthetic (MSS) process and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and photoluminescence spectra (PL). Under the excitation of 405 nm, intense red emission with high color purity can be observed in the Eu3' doped La2Zr2O7 NPs. Moreover, the as-prepared Eu:La2Zr2O7 NPs possess high concentration quenching, which is as high as 32.5 mol% of europium dopants in the La2Zr2O7 host. The corresponding concentration quenching mechanism was discussed as well. Our results confirm that the kinetically modified MSS process is a promising approach for preparing rare earth (RE) ions doped A(2)B(2)O(7) nanoparticles with uniform RE doping and high concentration quenching. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.