A series of apatite-type phosphors Ba4.97-xSrx(PO4)(3)Cl:Eu2+(x = 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0) were synthesized by the high temperature solid-state reaction method, and its luminescence properties were investigated in detail. It can be found that a red shift of the emission peak wavelength emerged from 439 to 462 nm with the continuous introduction of Sr2+ into the crystal lattice which has been simulated by a crystal-field model. The red shift is explained by the distortion in the crystal structure through X-ray diffraction and the Rietveld refinement analysis. According to a recently raised structural model, Eu2+ ions are surrounded by O atoms, PO4 tetrahedrons and Ba/Sr ions. After introducing Sr2+ into the lattice, the interatomic distance between Ba/Sr atoms and Eu2+ was expected to become shorter, resulting in a distortion of the inner EuOn polyhedrons. Then the crystal field strength surrounding Eu2+ was increased, finally resulting in the red shift. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.