A novel blue emitting phosphor Ba2B2O5:Ce3+ is synthesized by a high temperature solid state method. The luminescent property and the thermal stability of Ba2B2O5:Ce3+ are investigated. Under the 350 nm radiation excitation, Ba2B2O5:Ce3+ has a broad blue emission band, and the peak locates at 417 nm which is assigned to the 5d(1)-4f(1) transition of Ce3+. It is further proved that the dipole-dipole interaction results in the concentration quenching of Ce3+ in Ba2B2O5:Ce3+. When the temperature turned up to 150 degrees C, the emission intensity of Ba1.97B2O5:0.03Ce(3+) is 63.4% of the initial value at room temperature. The activation energy Delta E is calculated to be 0.25 eV, which prove the good thermal stability of BaBa2B2O5:Ce3+. All the properties indicate that BaBa2B2O5:Ce3+ may have potential application in white LEDs. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.