For the first time, a ZrO2/Rhodamine B (RhB) fluorescent nanocomposite material was synthesized by a simple heat refluxing method. The properties of the samples were characterized by transmission electronic microscopy, Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The results showed that chemical bonds had formed between the surface atoms of ZrO2 nanoparticles and RhB molecules. The PL intensity of ZrO2/RhB nanocomposites was much higher than that of both RhB powders and ZrO2 nanoparticles. In addition, the effect of the dye concentrations on the photoluminescence of the nanocomposites was also investigated. (C) 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.