A series of Eu3+ doped Zn[B3O3(OH)(5)]center dot H2O/ZnB4O7/ZnB2O4 phosphors have been prepared by a facile method. Namely, Zn[B3O3(OH)(5)]center dot H2O:Eu3+ precursors with four kinds of morphologies were firstly prepared by a homogeneous Oprecipitation method, then ZnB4O7:Eu3+ and ZnB2O4:Eu3+ phosphors were obtained by annealing of the as-prepared Zn[B3O3(OH)(5)]center dot H2O:Eu3+ precursors at (600-700) degrees C and (800-900) degrees C, respectively. The samples were characterized by EDS, XRD, TG-DTA, FT-IR and SEM. A systematic studies on the photoluminescence (PL) properties of Zn[B3O3(OH)(5)]center dot H2O/ZnB4O7/ZnB2O4: Eu3+ phosphors have been performed. It was found that the emission intensity of ZnB2O4:Eu3+ phosphor prepared by present method was much stronger than that prepared by conventional high temperature solid-state method. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.