Luminescent rare-earth (RE) ions doped TiO2 nanofibers have been prepared by electrospinning of a mixture solution of rare-earth acetylacetone (RE(C5H7O2)(3))/titanium tetraisopropoxide (Ti (OiPr)(4))/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) (RE = Eu, Er, Ce, Pr), followed by calcination at high temperature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses demonstrated the morphology and the structure of the rare-earth doped TiO2 nanofibers. Exciting the nanofibers results in an energy transfer from surface states of TiO2 to that of the rare-earth ions and the photoluminescence is observed from the crystal field states of the rare-earth ions. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.