A core-shell structure material, carbon fiber/SnO2 was prepared by a surface modi. cation precipitation process in aqueous solution. Results indicated that coating was obtained with 250 nm-thick SnO2 shell on the surface of carbon fiber from 0.05 M SnCl2. Optical properties of the composites were also investigated by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. It was found that there is a broad yellow emission band centered at 583 nm in the wavelength ranging from 450 to 700 nm. Moreover, combining with the PL spectrum annealed in air, the broad yellow emission band may be attributed to the oxygen vacancies, which is supported by results from Raman study. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.