One kind of ZnCl2 nano-films with controllable dimension and morphology is successfully synthesized on the top surface of nano-porous anodic alumina membrane (nano-PAAM) by self-organized method. The nano-PAA-ZnCl2 composite films are characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometer, and laser confocal Raman spectroscopy. The results indicate that the concentration of initial ZnCl2 solution, the depth of nano-PAAM substrate and the growth time of ZnCl2 crystals have important influences on the properties of nano-composite films. Furthermore, the characteristics of nano-composites such as the photoluminescence (PL) spectra are investigated. Compared with the nano-PRAM substrate, at room temperature, all of the nano-PAA-ZnCl2 composite films have both the same excitation center (335 nm) and emission center (430 nm), no matter what the nano composite morphologies being; and the PL intensity of nano-PAA-ZnCl2 composite films are all enhanced and the maximum enhancement is two times; after annealing at 500 degrees C, the emission spectra of the nano composite films stabilized at the 385 nm, 402 nm and 430 nm. The research provides a new, simple, economical and practical technology to fabricate nano-PAA composite films with higher luminousintensity. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.